Hidden Treasure! Can I come?
by Lamminator
Summary: Bianca Lewis, a cryptographer and old friend of the Gates' Family, joins the gang in the quest for the Knight's Templar treasure. Takes place before, during. follows exactly., and after the movie.
1. Childhood Friends Reunite

((Originally Posted on Quizilla))

Hey, how y'all doin'?

I think I'm going to start a story deal-y. I will be based off of Disney's National Treasure. I personally love that movie! I don't want to give too much away right now, but it will involve Riley and an OC...

If you haven't seen National Treasure yet, I suggest you see it before you read this. I follow the exact story line.

* * *

Bianca Lewis was sitting at her desk in her office one day at the University of Pennsylvania of Archeology and Anthropology Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was doing the job she had had her heart set on ever since she was a little girl. Cryptography. She had always loved to decode the Hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt. In her free time, so would do what any cryptographer would do...solve riddles, like the kind in newspapers and magazines. She would also head over to the Underground Museum down the street whenever she needed to get away or think.

The Underground Museum consists of things that Benjamin Franklin invented and discovered. The museum would always remind Bianca of her childhood friend, Ben Gates. Yes, the famous Gates family that everyone thought was crazy because they believed that the Free Masons had created a treasure map to mounds of Knight's Templar Treasure.

Ben was about 15 years older than Bianca, but they were still friends: 1. Because Ben was a next door neighbor and would baby-sit if her normal sitter was unable to watch her when she was young and 2. Ben's father practically forced him to be her 'playmate' when he saw her swinging on her swing set all by herself.

While at her desk, Bianca was working on a set of Hieroglyphics that had been given to her by her boss earlier in the week. There were papers scattered everywhere around the room; on the floor, on the counter, the computer, even papers taped to the windows. She couldn't even find her favorite pen that her father had given to her just before he died.

She had gotten out of her chair at her desk to pace the room. She couldn't decipher what the one symbol meant. It wasn't in her notes anywhere. She goes over to a filing cabinet and digs through one of the draws. There was nothing there to give her any clues, so she goes back to her desk and sits down, propping her elbows up on the desk. She rubs her face with her hands and pushes her medium-long, wavy, purple-tinted brunette hair out of her face, letting her hands rest at the back of her head.

"Why...can't...I...figure...this...out?" she asks herself out loud hitting her forehead on the desk after every word.

"So, Miss Bianca Lewis can't even figure out a simple Hieroglyphic without having to resort to violence," someone says from the door.

Bianca didn't even hear anyone come in. She looks up slowly and sees Ben leaning on the doorframe with his arms folded across his chest.

"Benjamin Gates! Is it really you, or did I just hit my head hard enough to make myself think that I'm really speaking to you?" Bianca says rubbing her forehead dramatically.

"Yes, it is really me, Ben Gates," he says countering her dramatic forehead-rubbing with a dramatic bow.

Bianca rises from her chair and walks towards her old friend, giving him a hug and laughing.

"You haven't changed a bit since the last time I saw you. How've you been?" she asks pulling away from their hug.

"Alright, alright. And you?"

"I'm okay...except for my head, but that'll pass," she says smiling at him, "What brings you to Philly? I thought you were in D.C.?"

Ben looks around and closes the door to Bianca's office.

"I found it," he says, sitting on the edge of her desk.

"Careful! Don't you realize what those are! Those are Hieroglyphics from Ancient Egypt!" she screeches running over to her desk and pulling Ben off of it.

"Sorry," he says, "you haven't changed a bit," he ends with a smirk.

"It's alright," she sighs, "What did you find? Did you find my pen?"

"Your pen? You mean the one your father gave you. You still have it...and it works? Its amazing you can find anything in here," he mumbles the last part.

"Gee, thanks," she says sarcastically, "I know where things are. I call it organized chaos. I just...misplaced the pen. Did you happen to see it?" she asks Ben looking around.

"No, sorry, but I found something else," he says in a mysterious voice.

"Alright. What did you find?" Bianca asks giving up her scan of the room for the pen.

"I found the Charlotte. Well, the whereabouts anyway," he says putting his hands on her shoulders and looking her straight in the eyes.

Bianca gasps.

"Oh my god, Ben! Are you joking! You better not be or..." she didn't get to finish her threat.

"I'm not kidding, Bianca. It's up near the Arctic Circle," he says releasing her shoulders, "I'm putting a team together and since you were the only person to believe me when we were younger, I thought you might want to tag along."

"Tag along? Is that all I'm good for?" she asks in a mock tone, crossing her arms over her chest.

"No, of course not. You're a wonderful cryptographer and that's why I want you with me. There are riddles involved..." he says the last part tauntingly.

Bianca's arms fall to her sides and her mouth hangs open.

"Riddles? I love riddles and you know it...I'm in!" she say regaining her composure.

Back when Ben was in college and Bianca was in middle school, they were sitting on the swings of Bianca's swing set one day, when Ben tells her everything about it all. Ben had enough trust in her to tell her about the Knight's Templar treasure. She believed him...for some reason unknown to him. He was grateful and was glad she didn't think he and his family were crazy...unlike the rest of the historical population.

"When do we leave?" Bianca asks sitting in the chair at her desk.

"In a few days. I have to get a few things together then you and I will head down to D.C. to meet up with everyone else," he says.

"Something tells me I'm going to be the only woman going on this excursion," she says leaning back in her chair.

"Probably," he replies smugly.

"Great," she says rolling her eyes, "Anyone going that I would know?"

"I doubt it. The guy I contacted is named Ian Howe, he's funding our trip and he says he's going to bring some guys that will help also. I have to get this kid out of an office, Riley Poole, in D.C. He's a computer wiz...probably about as good with technology as good as you are with cryptics," he explains.

"Oh, goody. A computer nerd," Bianca mumbles, rolling her eyes.

Ben chuckles.

"Yeah, a computer nerd," he says walking towards the door, "I have to get going, but I'll talk to you soon."

"Alright, but let me know when were leaving," Bianca says passing him her business card after she jots down her cell phone number on the back.

The two friends hug.

"It was good to see you again, Bianca," says Ben leaving the office.

Bianca smiles and goes to sit at her desk again.

After sitting at the desk for a few moments, she picks up the papyrus sitting in front of her. Underneath it was the green fountain pen her father had given her.

"Well, would you look at that? There it is," she says to herself.

After putting the papyrus back down, she started staring at the Hieroglyphics again. She got it! The final symbol that was bothering her for the past few hours!

'It must have been Ben,' she thinks and starts to put her equipment away for the day. She was the last one left on her floor, but she was used to it.

Bianca walks out of the museum and to the nearest bus station. She gets on the bus and stays on for a few stops until its close enough to her apartment.

Once inside the apartment, she throws her bag down by the door, along with her sneakers. She works in a casual wear work place, so jeans, t-shirt, and sneakers are what she normally wears.

Bianca eats dinner (leftovers, as usual), takes a shower, and gets into bed. She easily drifts off to sleep.


	2. It's Good To Be In DC

The next morning, Bianca is woken up by her cell phone ringing.

"H-hello?" she says groggily into the phone.

"Mornin' Sunshine," says a voice that's all too cheerful this early in the morning.

"What do you want, Ben? You do realize that its 7 am, right?" she asks looking at the clock.

"Yes. Why? Aren't you a morning person?" he asks sarcastically.

"Obviously not. I don't start work until 9:00," she replies.

"Sorry, but I just wanted to tell you that were going to be leaving tomorrow morning in order to get to D.C. by lunchtime," he says.

"Oh, okay. I'll be ready. I'm going to hang up now and get another hour of sleep. Bye, Ben," he says as she goes to hang up the phone.

A muffled sigh came from the other end before she hung up.

She tosses the phone on her nightstand and goes back to sleep for an hour.

After she is fully awake one hour later, Bianca grabs her stuff and a protein bar and heads out the door to the Museum.

She gets to her office and puts her belongings on the counter being careful not to damage any of the ancient papyruses sitting on it.

Bianca then realizes that she has to tell her boss, Mr. Johnson, that she'll have to take a few days off.

She walks down the hall to Mr. Johnson's office. His secretary lets her in.

"Ah, Bianca. How are the Hieroglyphics coming?" he asks rising from behind his desk.

"They're alright. I'm almost finished with them. Listen, Mr. Johnson, an old friend of mine stopped by yesterday and I have to help him with...some, uh, stuff from our past," she explains looking past him and out the window.

"Oh, okay," he says a little shocked, "When do you leave?"

"Uh, tomorrow. I'm sorry its such a short notice, but this really has to be done and he only told me about it yesterday," she says pleading with her boss.

"Bianca, its alright...you'll just have more work to do when you get back. When will that be anyway?" he asks.

"I'm not exactly sure. He didn't specify that," she says.

"As long as you're not gone too long. We'll miss you around here. Just let me know when you get back," he says understandingly.

"Okay...thank you," Bianca says and leaves the office.

'That seemed too easy,' she thinks as she makes her way back to her own office.

Once back in her own office, she sits down at her desk to get back to cracking the Hieroglyphic code.

Her day goes smoothly and she leaves her office on time. It was probably the first time she's done that since...who knows when.

Back at her apartment, she puts her workbag in the closet by the front door and goes to pack things shell need for the upcoming adventure. After she finished packing a bag, she goes to bed early, so she can be ready for Ben's early morning wake up call.

The next morning, Bianca is once again woken up by her cell phone.

"God, Ben. 6:30? That's got to be a record of some sort," she says into the phone.

"I thought I'd give you enough time to get ready. I'll be outside your apartment complex at 7:00. Be ready," he says and hangs up.

Bianca groans and gets up. She jumps into the shower and puts on some nice, yet comfortable clothes. She grabs a few snacks and shoves them in her bag.

At exactly 7:00, Ben was waiting in front of her apartment. She leaves the apartment, locking it on the way out, and heads down the two floors to greet Ben.

"You're a lot more punctual than I remember," she says getting in the front seat of the car and throwing her bag in the back seat.

"Eh, that's what happens when you grow up," he says smiling and pulling away from the apartment.

"No way! You grew up!" Bianca says sarcastically.

"Yeah, imagine that," he retorts.

Bianca shakes her head.

"We're heading to D.C., right?" she asks out of the blue.

"Yeah, why?" he replies with his own question.

"Wake me when we get there," she says and snuggles into the seat as best as she can.

Ben grins.

"Alright."

A few hours later, Bianca was shaken awake.

"Are we there?" she asks opening her eyes.

"Yeah, we're here," Ben says getting out of the car.

Bianca takes off her seatbelt and gets out of the car herself. She stretches as soon as she does.

"Where is here, exactly?" she asks looking around.

"My humble abode," Ben replies with a bow.

Bianca looks up.

"Up there?" she points.

"Yep. Now lets go. We have to meet Riley at 1:00," he says getting her bag out of the back seat.

Bianca looks at her watch while following Ben.

"That means we only have an hour," she says.

"Wow, Sherlock, I'm so glad you can tell time," he says holding the door open for her.

"Shut up...and thanks," she says walking into the building.

Bianca follows Ben up a few floors to his apartment. They walk in and Ben sets Bianca's bag down by the door.

"Welcome to my...uh, place," Ben says walking into his kitchen and getting a drink out of the refrigerator, "do you want anything to drink?"

"No, thanks...unless you have some Gatorade," she says sitting down at the kitchen table.

"Nope, sorry. Fresh out," he says looking in the refrigerator, muffled by the door.

"Eh, that's okay," she says, "Where are we meeting this Riley 'kid'?" she asks making air-quotes around 'kid.'

"At a restaurant in downtown D.C.," he replies.

"Oh, well, then, shouldn't we be going?" she says glancing at the clock on the wall.

"Uh, sure," he says.

The two leave Ben's apartment and head back down to his car. Once inside the car, Ben drives to downtown D.C.

They pull up to a restaurant called 'Capitol City' and Bianca questions:

"Capitol City? Is it any good?"

"Oh yeah, they have good burgers here," says Ben pulling into a parking spot.

"Good. I'm hungry," she says getting out of the car, "What does Riley look like anyway?"

Ben walks over to the passenger's side and puts a few quarters in the parking meter. He looks up.

"Just turn around. He's the geeky looking one in sneakers walking this way," he says nonchalantly.

* * *

It's a little cliffhanger-ish, right? That probably won't happen much, just to let ya'll know.


	3. Meeting Riley

Bianca slowly turns around and looks to the ground to spot the sneakers first. Once she finds them, she follows the rest of the body up and sees a very cute looking guy about the same height, if not a few inches taller, than herself and about the same age, short brown tousled hair, a goatee, and bluish-green eyes. His eyes are gorgeous and Bianca found herself staring into them.

Ben walks up next to her and she pulls her eyes away from Riley.

"Nice to see you again, Riley," Ben says, shaking Riley's hand.

"Same here, Ben...who's she?" Riley asks hinting in Bianca's direction.

"Oh, right. This is Bianca Lewis. Bianca Lewis, Riley Poole. She's the one that's good with riddles and codes," Ben explains.

"Nice to meet you, Riley," Bianca says, extending her hand, smiling.

"Same here," he says shaking her hand.

"Well, now that were all acquainted, how 'bout some lunch?" says Ben walking towards the restaurant.

"Here, here," says Bianca following him.

She is followed by Riley.

The three enter the restaurant and take a seat. A waitress comes over to take their orders. While waiting for their food, they chat.

"Alright, do I get to be filled in now, or do I have to wait until we get there?" asks Bianca getting straight to the point.

"Well, since you asked so nicely, I might as well," states Ben sarcastically, "We leave tomorrow morning for a plane going north. We'll be meeting Ian in Northern Canada, then we'll head towards the Arctic Circle and we'll start looking for the Charlotte."

"That's it? That's all we have to do?" asks Bianca.

"Yeah...for now," replies Ben, just as their food was arriving.

They eat their lunch and head out.

"I have to get back to work. I'll see you guys later tonight," Riley says, "It was nice meeting you, Bianca," he says shaking her hand once more.

"You too, Riley," she says.

Riley shakes Ben's hand and he goes back to his job. Bianca stares after him for a bit, grinning.

Ben looks over at her.

"Don't even think about it," he says.

"What?" she asks snapping back to reality.

"I saw you watching him."

"I was not. I was looking past him," she lies.

"Yeah, okay," he says sarcastically, "Get in the car."

"Yes, sir, Captain America, sir," she says mockingly saluting him and getting in the car.

Bianca and Ben head back to his apartment.

"What're we supposed to do now?" Bianca asks closing the door to the apartment behind her. She walks over to one of the couches and flops down, putting her hands behind her head and staring at the ceiling.

"I don't know, just keep yourself entertained for a while," he says walking to sit in a chair near her.

"You got a newspaper?" she asks looking at him.

"Yeah, why?...Wait. I know the answer to that," he says getting out of the chair.

He goes to get the paper off of the kitchen counter. He tosses it to Bianca when he gets back to her.

"What, no pencil?" she asks stretching out her hand.

Ben stares at her.

"I'm just kidding. I have one," she says pulling a pencil out of her side pocket and waving it in front of his face.

Ben rolls his eyes and goes into what Bianca thinks is his bedroom.

She shakes her head, grinning.

Bianca starts to do the crossword puzzle. A few minutes pass and she's done with it. She moves on to one of the other puzzles and within an hour she has the whole thing finished. There's not much else to do in Ben's apartment. He has no video game systems or anything remotely entertaining. (Go figure...the nerd.) It sounds like Ben went to take a shower or something, so Bianca thinks it best not to bother him.

She goes over to her bag by the door and takes out her CD player. She goes back to the couch and puts the headphones on. She lies back to stretch out on the couch and starts to doze off while listening to her music.

* * *

Well, Bianca finally met Riley...some interesting things are going to happen...soon.


	4. What Time Are We Leaving?

Ben comes out from his shower about half an hour later in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt to see Bianca sleeping on his couch. He doesn't want to disturb her, but she might freak out if the batteries in her CD player get too low. He walks over to her and presses the 'stop' button on the player, but keeps the headphones on her so she doesn't wake up when Riley arrives...which would be in an hour or two.

Ben takes the newspaper over to the kitchen counter and starts to read anything that looks interesting. He has the talent of multi-tasking, so while reading the paper, he starts to get himself a pint of beer. Once he has his beer, he sits down at the 'dinning room' table and continues reading.

Every once in a while he would look over at Bianca to see if she was still asleep and alive.

An hour and a half later, there's a knock at the front door. Ben looks over to Bianca to see if she woke up. She didn't, but she stirred a bit. Ben gets up from the table and goes to answer the door. He opens the door a crack and sees Riley standing there with a duffle bag and a bag for his laptop.

"Hey, Ben," says Riley sleepily.

"Hi, Riley. Come in, but be quiet. Bianca fell asleep on the couch," says Ben opening the door wider.

Riley walks in and puts his duffle bag down next to the table and the bag containing the laptop on the table.

"I have something to show you, Ben," Riley whispers loudly, pulling the laptop out of its bag.

Ben walks over to the table. They both sit with their backs to Bianca.

"What? And cant this wait until tomorrow. We have a really long flight, anyway," says Ben.

"Well, I guess it can wait until tomorrow, but I really want to show this to you," Riley says pleading with Ben with a renewed energy.

"Oh, fine, but make it quick. We should get some sleep considering we have to leave at 3:00 in the morning," says Ben, "Damn, Bianca won't like that bit of news."

He mumbles the last part to himself. He saw Riley's eyes get wide, but they returned to normal size once the computer was running.

Little did Ben know that Bianca had woken up and was listening to everything they were talking about. She quietly got off of the couch and snuck up behind the two men, while Riley rambled on about some tracking/navigation program on his laptop.

"Did I hear you correctly, Ben? 3:00 in the morning? As in before the sun is even up?" she asks standing a few feet behind them with her arms folded over her chest.

Riley jumps about a foot in the air and Ben casually turns in his chair to face her.

"Yes, 3:00 in the morning, before the sun is up. It's a long flight, so you might want to get sleep...again," he says turning back to look at the computer.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asks standing behind his chair.

"He might be hinting that you're not a morning person," Riley says spinning in his chair to say it to her.

"Shut up, Riley," she snaps.

Riley throws up his hands in defense and spins back to the computer.

Ben glares at her, then replies, "Exactly what he said."

"Look, I know I'm not a morning person and you know it too, but I've gone with a lot less sleep than 3 hours. Plus, there's this long flight you keep talking about," she say to Ben.

"Fine, but I won't put up with you once you start getting cranky," says Ben turning to the computer again.

"I won't put up with you either," says Riley.

"Gee, thanks guys," Bianca says sarcastically, "Just don't stay up too late."

She gets tired of arguing with them, so she goes back over to the couch and flops back down.

She hears the quiet talking of Ben and Riley for another 15 minutes. After that, the room gets quiet because Riley's computer is turned off. The guys quietly shuffle things around and turn out some lights. The only light left on is between the 2 couches.

Ben leaves the room probably to go to his room.

Riley jumps onto the other couch and turns off the light.

The next morning, at 2:00, Ben is woken up by his alarm clock. He gets out of his bed, stretches, and gets dressed. He leaves his room to go wake up Riley.

"W-what?" Riley mumbles trying to wake up.

"Shhhh," says Ben putting a finer to his lips, "You'll wake up Bianca. Let her sleep until 2:30," he whispers.

"Why does she get to sleep and I have to get up?" Riley whines.

"She'll be on your case all day if she's woken up more than a half an hour before we have to leave," explains Ben going over to the kitchen.

"Oh, fine," grumbles Riley getting off the couch and stretching.

That half an hour passes.

"Hey, Ben, it's, uh, 2:30. Should we wake up Bianca?" Riley asks timidly.

"Yeah, go ahead, just don't scare her," Ben says and goes into his bedroom to get his stuff.

"Me?" Riley says.

"Yeah. Be a man, Riley," he hears Ben from the bedroom.

Riley cautiously goes over to Bianca's sleeping form and kneels down next to the couch. He gently shakes her and she opens her eyes slowly.

"What'd you want, Riley?" she grumbles.

"It's 2:30 and Ben told me to wake you up," he says calmly.

"Oh okay. Gimme a few minutes," she says trying to keep her eyes open.

Ben comes back out into the living room.

"Is she awake yet?" Ben asks Riley.

"Uh, sort of," he replies.

"Yeah, I'm awake...well, getting there anyway," Bianca mumbles.

"Good, we have to get going soon. The plane leaves at 4:00," says Ben getting some last minute things together.

The 3 gather their things and head out the door at 3:00. Bianca and Riley argue over who gets to sit in the front seat of the car.

"Alright, alright. I have an idea...We'll 'rock, paper, scissor' for it," says Bianca.

"That's so childish," says Ben from the driver's side.

"Do you have any better ideas?" she asks eyeing him.

"Not at the moment. Just be quick," he says yawning.

"Fine. Best 2 out of 3, okay?" she asks Riley.

"Yeah, okay," he says.

Bianca wins the first round (scissors over paper). Riley wins the second round (paper over rock). And Bianca wins the last round (rock over scissors).

She does a celebratory dance, singing:

"I win. I win. You get the back seat. Hahahahahaha."

She gets into the front, while a grumbling Riley gets into the back seat.

"_That_ was really childish," says Ben and he drives off to the airport.

Bianca just grins.

* * *

There's part 5 for ya. In the next one, more characters will be introduced...


	5. Ian

**A/N: **_I'm sorry it took so long for me to get this out for all of you. I had someone else updating for me and she kinda...slacked off. I should be able to update more, now that I know how. Sorry again._

**Disclaimer:** (I don't think there's one of these in here yet...) I DO NOT own anything except Bianca, everything else belongs to...whoever came up with everything.

* * *

They reach the airport and get everything settled. Within an hour, they depart and are on their way to Canada. Riley almost immediately falls asleep, Ben soon follows, but Bianca stays awake the whole flight. She's too excited to sleep.

Once in Canada, Ben calls Ian telling him that they have landed safely and will meet him in the parking lot. The trio makes their way out to the parking lot and 2 cars and a van are sitting out front. A tall guy with shaggy blonde hair gets out of the first car. Ben walks over to him.

"Hello, Ian," he says.

'Ahh, so this is Ian,' Bianca thinks.

"Hello, Ben. Who are your friends?" asks Ian in an English accent.

"This is Riley Poole," Ben says pointing to Riley, "and this is a good friend of my family's, Bianca Lewis," he points to Bianca.

"It's nice to meet you both," Ian says shaking their hands. He holds onto Bianca's hand a little longer than Ben's and Riley's hands.

Bianca wasn't the only one to notice Ian's grip, either. Ben just happened to look down at the right moment.

"I guess we should be going. Don't you think?" Ben asks to no one in particular.

"Yes!" Bianca chimes quickly.

"Sure," says Ian laughing, "I'll be in the lead car with 2 other members of my team. You three will be in the second car with Shaw as your driver, and the other one in my team and some equipment will be in the van."

The 4 go to their respective cars. Riley asks Bianca quietly:

"Who gets the front seat this time?"

"I think it would be best if Ben gets it," she says smiling.

Riley nods.

They all get in the cars and head off to a more secluded part of the airport. They unload everything and put it on the jet Ian paid for. While walking over to the jet, Bianca is approached by Ian.

"What sort of a name is Bianca?" he asks her.

She gives him a weird 'why-are-you-asking-me-this' sort of look.

"It's Italian. I was born in Florence. My mother was Italian. She met my father when he traveled to Italy on a business trip. He was American. And yes, I can speak fluent Italian," she explains.

"What happened to your parents?" Ian asks.

'This guy just won't leave me alone...' she thinks.

She sighs.

"They were killed in a train accident when I was in college," she says sadly hanging her head.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Ian says quietly.

"Eh, it's in the past," she says simply and walks faster to the jet to get away from Ian.

Everyone boards the jet and they take off.

A few minutes into the flight, Ben gets out of his seat and goes over to Bianca.

"Are you alright?" he asks standing next to her seat, "You seemed troubled when I got on."

"Yeah, I'm fine," she says looking up to him and giving him a weak smile.

"Yeah, like I'm going to believe that. Move over," he says making her move to the next seat.

She moves and Ben takes the seat she was just sitting in.

"Alright, what's the matter?" Ben asks very seriously.

"It's nothing, really," she says not looking at him.

"Bianca," he says in a warning tone.

"Alright, fine," she takes a deep breath, "It's Ian. He creeps me out and he...he asked me about my parents, Ben," she says trying to keep her anger under control.

"Damn it. It'll be okay, just try to stay away from him as much as possible and try to stay as close to me and Riley as you can, alright?" he asks looking at her.

She just nods her head.

"Okay. I'll inform Riley that you'll be close to us from now on," Ben says putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Thanks Ben," she says quietly.

Ben leaves Bianca's side and goes to talk to Riley.

An hour and a half goes by and they land on the ice in the arctic. As soon as the jet stops moving, Bianca gets up and goes directly over to Riley. She would have gone to Ben, but Riley was closer to her.

"Ben talked to you right?" she asks him.

"Yeah, I don't know what I can do though," he says.

"Just stay near me," she replies, "and be brave. Don't take any shit from Ian."

"Okay," he says not to sure of himself.

Ian walks over to Riley and Bianca and hands them thick coats to be prepared for the cold weather. Bianca takes the coat from Ian, mumbles a "thanks," and heads over to Ben.

"You okay?" Ben asks putting on his coat and a pair of gloves.

"Yeah, fine, just trying to avoid him," she says doing the same thing as Ben.

Everyone gets suited up and they head out into the frigid air. Outside the jet are 2 plow looking things. They look like plows with tank-type 'wheels.' (**A/N: **sorry, I'm really bad at describing things.)

Ian, Ben, Riley, and Bianca get in one. The rest of Ian's team gets in the other one.

Riley and Bianca get in the back, while Ben and Ian sit up front. Ben's driving because he knows the where-abouts of the Charlotte better than anyone.

Riley digs out his laptop and starts with the tracking/navigation program. Bianca looks over his shoulder.

* * *

**A/N:** Again, I'm sorry it took so long...no flames, please... 


	6. The Charlotte

**A/N:** _This part picks up where the movie starts. I followed the movie almost word for word, so once again, NOTHING BELONGS TO ME...except Bianca._

* * *

They start driving. Ben is leading the other plow.

About an hour later, Ben says something really random and doesn't make much sense to Bianca, but she's sure it has some significance.

"I was thinking about Hanson and Perry, crossing this kind of terrain with nothing more than dog sleds and on foot. Can you imagine?" he says.

"It's extraordinary," says Ian with awe and looking out the window.

Riley's computer starts beeping.

"Are we getting closer?" asks Ian.

"Assuming Ben's theory is correct and my tracking model's accurate, we should be getting very close. But don't go by me, I broke a shoelace this morning," he says.

Ben, Ian, and Bianca give Riley looks that say 'what?'

"A shoelace?" questions Bianca.

"Yeah, it's...it's a bad omen," he says.

Bianca rolls her eyes.

"Should we turn around and go home?" asks Ian.

"Or we could just throw him out here," says Ben jokingly.

Everyone except Riley laughs.

"I second that," says Bianca.

"Hahaha…okay," says Riley sarcastically.

"Oh, Riley, you aren't missing that windowless cubicle I found you in are you?" asks Ben.

"Oh no, absolutely not," he says laughing.

"Cubicle?" asks Bianca.

"Yeah, that's where some people work," he says.

"Not me. At least I have windows," she says just trying to get on Riley's nerves.

"The way you tape things to the windows, it doesn't make it feel that way," says Ben.

"Thanks, Ben. That's how I know where everything is," she says defensively.

After Bianca says her sentence, Riley's computer starts beeping like crazy.

They stop the plows and everyone hangs out of the doors on the plows and looks ahead.

"I don't see any ship," says Shippen, the Aussie on Ian's team.

"Oh she's out there," says Ben.

"And we're going to find it," says Bianca so only Ben could hear her.

He turns around and smiles at her. She smiles back.

They get off of the plows. Ben and 2 of the guys on Ian's team, Victor and Phil, get some metal detectors from the back of the plows.

They all spread out and start looking for the Charlotte.

Riley was behind Bianca and Ben. Shippen walks up to Riley and Bianca stops to listen.

"Look, this is a waste of time. How could a ship wind up all the way out here?" Shippen asks.

"Well, I'm no expert, but it could be that the hydrothermal properties of this region produce hurricane force ice storms that causes the ocean to freeze, then melt, then refreeze, resulting in a semi-solid migrating land mass that would land a ship right around here," Riley explains in a winded explanation and walks off.

Shipppen looks very confused.

Bianca shakes her head grinning and goes back to looking for the ship. Almost as soon as she starts looking again, her metal detector starts going crazy.

"Hey, Ben. Come here," she says and Ben comes running over, "I think I found something."

Ben pulls out an ice pick and hits the ice with it. He stops when he hears the pick hit metal.

Ben and Bianca look at each other. Bianca's grinning from ear to ear and Ben looks shocked.

They start pawing at the snow to remove it. They uncover words of a partial phrase that say '_Boston Massa...'_ and Ben pulls out a water bottle to get the ice off of the last part. He pours it on the letters and the word '_CHARLOTTE'_ appears.

"We found it," says Bianca quietly.

"Hello beautiful," says Ben, referring to the ship.

Ben and Bianca get up and out of the snow.

"Hey Ian, you might want to start up those plows," Ben shouts to Ian.

"Did you find it?" he asks walking over to Ben and Bianca.

'No, we just want you to plow for no apparent reason,' Bianca thinks sarcastically.

"Oh, yeah," she says.

"Good," Ian says grinning at Bianca.

Ian turns to signal his team to start plowing.

Bianca shivers as soon as Ian's back is to her.

"You alright?" asks Ben quietly to her.

"Yeah. It's just...him," she says nodding in Ian's direction.

"Yeah, okay. Go find Riley and stay near him," says Ben.

"Fine," she sighs and goes to Riley.

After most of the plowing is done, the team gets prepared to go inside. Ben and Ian have a little chat, but Bianca doesn't really care about what. She stays near Riley, who is comically trying to get a backpack on. She starts laughing at him.

"Wait, wait. Stop," Bianca says to Riley in between laughs.

Riley stops and stands still. Bianca helps him get the backpack on. She looks right at him and starts laughing again.

"Haha, laugh it up," Riley says sarcastically.

"I believe I am," Bianca says laughing again.

"Okay, let's go!" announces Ben a little time later.

"Let's go find some treasure," says Ian.

Ben, Bianca, Riley, Ian and Shaw (another Englishman) enter the ship.

Everything looks like nothing happened to it, just a little snowy.

Ben opens a set of doors in the floor that lead even further below. He flings them open and giant icicles stick straight up.

"Whoa," mumbles Bianca.

They go below to what looks like sleeping quarters. Bianca walks right behind Ben, followed by Ian and Shaw. Riley makes his own route and walks right by a bed and looks in it. He sees a skeleton of what was once a crew member.

"Ahh! Oh god!" Riley sputters, jumping back.

"You handled that well," mocks Ben.

Bianca tries desperately to hold back her laughter.

"This is it," says Ben going over to a door, "The cargo hold."

He opens the door and everyone goes in. In the hold is a bunch of barrels.

"You think it's in the barrels?" asks Riley.

They all split up throughout the hold. Ian takes a pick and bashes in the top of a barrel. He pulls out some of the thin contents and lets it drop back in. He then smells it.

"Gunpowder," he says.

Riley pulls the cork out of the side of a barrel and gunpowder starts falling out of it. He tries to get the plug back in, but can't seem to find the plug.

Bianca follows Ben over to a skeleton.

"Now why would the captain be guarding this barrel?" he thinks out loud.

"Maybe there's something in it worth guarding," says Bianca.

"Maybe," he says.

Ben gently takes the captain's skeletal hand off of the barrel and cracks the top open. He spills some of the powder and finds something wrapped in a cloth. He pulls it out and carries it over to a flat surface.

"I've found something," he says.

Ian walks up next to him and Riley stands next to Bianca.

"What is it?" asks Riley.

"And just how is he supposed to know that?" asks Bianca.

Riley just shrugs.

Ben unfolds the cloth revealing a box with carvings on it. It's a very nice box. Ben opens the box and inside is an ivory colored pipe. The pipe is very detailed. (**A/N: **Sorry about the discription again.)

"Do you guys know what this is?" Ben asks.

"Is it a billion dollar pipe?" asks Riley.

* * *

**A/N:** _So there's another one...I'm on a roll! Look be on the look out for more!_


	7. Another Clue

**A/N:** _Normal disclaimer..._

* * *

"It's a meerschaum pipe. Ah, it's beautiful," says Ian taking the pipe from Ben to get a better look at it.

"Look at the intricacy of the scroll work on the stem," says Ben.

"Wow," says Bianca.

"Is it a million dollar pipe?" Riley asks hopefully.

"No, it's a clue. Let me see that," Ben says to Ian taking the pipe back from him.

Ben pulls the stem apart from the rest of the pipe.

"What...don't break it," says Riley.

"We are one step closer to the treasure, gentlemen," says Ben.

Bianca clears her throat.

"And lady," he corrects himself.

Bianca gives a satisfied nod.

"Ben, I thought you said the treasure would be on the Charlotte," says Ian, looking confused.

"No, I said it could be here," Ben states.

Ben then proceeds to pull out a knife and prick his thumb with it. Riley cringes while everyone else looks on in wonder. Ben smears the blood over the stem of the pipe and rolls it onto a piece of paper in a small book. There are a lot of words and symbols.

"These are Templar symbols," says Ben.

He reads what was on the pipe:

_"The legend writ,_

_The stain affected,_

_The key in Silence undetected,_

_Fifty-five in iron pen,_

_Mr. Matlack can't offend_.

Bianca mumbles what Ben read aloud and thinks.

"It's a riddle," she says.

"Yeah. I need to think," says Ben sitting down on a barrel.

Ben says his thoughts out loud: "The legend writ, the stain affected. What legend? There is the legend of the Templar treasure, the stain affects the legend. How? The key in silence undetected. Wait! The legend, the key. There's something. A map. Maps have legends, maps have keys. It's a map, an invisible map. So now..."

"Wait a minute," says Ian bringing the hand with the pipe in it to his head, "What do you mean invisible? An invisible map?"

"The stain affected could refer to a die or reagent used to bring about a certain result," says Bianca.

"Yes, and that combined with the key in Silence undetected. The implication is to make what was undetectable detectable. Unless the key in silence could be..." says Ben.

"Prison," Shaw blurts out interrupting Ben.

"Albuquerque, see I can do it too. Snorkel," says Riley.

Bianca hits his arm.

"It's where the map is. Like you said, 55 in iron pen. Iron Pen is a prison," explains Shaw.

"Or it could be since the primary writing medium of the time was iron gull ink, the pen is...just a pen. Then why not say a pen, why say iron pen?" says Ben.

"Because it's a prison," mumbles Shaw.

Ian moves to sit near Ben on another barrel of gunpowder. Bianca moves over to the door they came in through.

"Wait, iron pen. The ink does not describe what was in the pen, it describes what was penned. It was iron, it was firm. It was mineral, no, no, no, no. It was firm, it was adamant. It was resolved, it was resolved," says Ben coming to a stand still, "Mr. Matlack can't offend. Timothy Matlack was the official scribe of the Continental Congress. Calligrapher, not writer. And to make sure he could not offend the map, it was put on the back of a resolution that was transcribed, a _resolution_ that 55 men signed," he pauses.

"The Declaration of Independence," says Bianca thoughtfully.

The 4 men look at her, shocked.

"Exactly. The Declaration of Independence," Ben says standing and looking at Bianca.

"Ooooh," says Ian.

"Come on. There's no invisible map on the back of the Declaration of Independence," argues Riley.

"It's clever really. A document of that importance would ensure the map's survival. And you said several Masons signed it, yeah?" says Ian looking from Riley to Ben.

"Yeah, nine for sure," says Ben.

"We'll have to arrange for a way to examine it," says Ian.

Ben sits back down. Bianca gives Ben a worried look. She sends the same look to Riley, who gives the same look back.

"This is one of the most important documents in history, they aren't just going to let us waltz in there and run chemical tests on it," says Ben.

"What do you propose we do?" asks Ian.

"I don't know," says Ben putting his head in his hands.

"We could borrow it," says Ian thoughtfully.

"Steal it?" asks Bianca.

"I don't think so," says Ben a little calmer than Bianca.

"Ben, the treasure of the Knight's Templar is the treasure of all treasures," says Ian.

"No, really?" says Bianca sarcastically.

"Oh, I didn't know that. Really?" says Ben with the same sarcasm.

"Ben, I understand your bitterness, I really do. You've spent your entire life searching for this treasure only to have the historical community treat your family with mockery and contempt. You should be able to rub this treasure in their arrogant faces, and I want you to have the chance to do that," says Ian sincerely.

"How?" Bianca asks from the door.

"We all have our areas of expertise. You don't think mine is limited to writing checks, do you? Why, I've arranged a number of operations of...questionable legality," he says looking from Bianca to Ben.

"I would take his word for it," say Shaw standing next to Ian.

"Don't worry. I'll make all the arrangements," says Ian standing.

"No," says Ben sternly.

"I really need your help here, Ben," says Ian.

"Ian, I'm not going to let you steal the Declaration of Independence," says Ben standing along with everyone else.

"Okay, from this point on, all you're going to be is a hindrance," says Ian, while Shaw pulls out a gun and points it at Ben.

"Hey," says Riley.

"Whoa," says Bianca moving towards Riley.

"What're you going to do? You gonna shoot me, Shaw? Well, you can't shoot me: there's more to the riddle. Information you don't have, I do. I'm the only one who can figure it out and you know that," says Ben putting his hands in the air.

"He's bluffing," says Ian.

"We play poker together, Ian, you know I can't bluff," says Ben.

"Tell me what I need to know...or I'll shoot your friend," says Ian while Shaw points the gun at Riley.

"Hey!" shouts Riley.

"No," Bianca says.

'Did I just say that?' Bianca thinks to herself.

"Quiet Riley, your job is finished here," says Ian.

Ben thinks quickly and pulls out a flare. He strikes it against a barrel and waves it in front of him.

"Look where you're standing. All that gunpowder. You shoot me, I drop this, we all go up," says Ben.

"Ben!" Riley shouts again.

"Ben, don't," says Bianca.

"What happens when the flare burn down? Tell me what I need to know, Ben," says Ian in a warning tone.

* * *

**A/N:** _Yea! More!...hmm...yeah..._


	8. Speaking with Dr Chase

**A/N:**_Same disclaimer applies...some creepy Ian in this chapter..._

* * *

"You need to know...if Shaw can catch," says Ben tossing the flare towards Shaw and Ian. 

Ian catches the flare with wicked quick reflexes just before it hits the ground.

"Nice try though, Ben," he says pointing the flare at Ben.

The flare then decided to burst, catching Ian's hand on fire. He drops the flare into the gunpowder. Some of the gunpowder catches alight and starts burning. Riley jumps back and hits the ground and Ian and Shaw head for the door. Just before Ian leaves, he pulls Bianca close to him by her coat.

"Too bad you decided to join him," he says indicating Ben and nodding in his direction.

Bianca just stares at Ian with a look that shows confusion and fear.

Ian then does what, Bianca thought, would be the unthinkable: he kisses her.

She pushes him away.

"I'll see you around, Bianca," he says and goes to the door.

As soon as he gets to the door, some gunpowder explodes in front of it and he shuts the door and locks it, leaving Ben, Riley, and Bianca in the hold.

Ben starts pounding the floor with his foot until he finds a trap door.

"Bianca, Riley, get over here!" he shouts.

Bianca runs over to Riley to help get him off the ground and they both head over to Ben.

"What is this!" asks Riley.

"Smugglers hold! Get in!" says Ben.

Riley jumps in followed by Bianca. Ben jumps in after them, closing the door as he does.

"Follow me!" says Ben running down a tunnel in the hold.

Bianca follows him and Riley follows her. A flame falls through the floor onto Riley and he falls down. Bianca helps him up and they run off to catch up with Ben.

They run through another door and Ben throws Riley and Bianca to the ground.

"Get down!" he shouts slamming the trap door down and flopping down next to Bianca.

As soon as he does, the flames hit a barrel of gunpowder and the Charlotte explodes into a million pieces and is thrown about 100 feet in the air.

Unfortunately, Ian and his crew got out safe and took the plows leaving the trio stuck in the wreckage.

Once the pieces of the wreckage had settled, the trio gets out of the snow breathing heavily.

"You alright, Riley?" asks Ben.

"Yeah, I'm good," he replies.

"Bianca? You?" Ben asks.

"I'm fine...I think," she says.

They stammer out of the wreckage.

"There's and Inuit village about 9 miles east of here. It's popular with bush pilots," states Ben.

"Alright...then what are we going to do?" asks Riley.

"Start making our way back home," replies Ben.

"No, I meant about Ian. He's going to steal the Declaration of Independence, Ben," says Riley.

"We stop him. It's that simple," says Bianca, "and I thought you were smart."

"I am smart," he mumbles.

They walk for a little time before Bianca speaks up.

"Do either of you have any mouthwash or something like that?" she asks the guys.

They stop and turn to look at her.

"Why would you want mouthwash?" asks Riley.

"Because Ian..." she didn't finish.

"Ian kissed you," says Ben.

Riley makes a sickened face.

"Eww," he says.

"Yeah...how'd you know?" she asks Ben.

"I saw it. Just be glad that was only thing he did," says Ben starting to walk again, "I don't have mouthwash, but I have a little water left."

"That's fine," says Bianca as Ben takes the water bottle out of his pocket and hands it to her.

She takes a mouth full of the water and swishes it around, then spits it in the snow.

"Better?" asks Ben.

"I guess it'll do," she replies, "thanks."

Ben, Bianca, and Riley head to the Inuit village and get a pilot to get them back to D.C.

Once back in Washington D.C., they change into nicer clothes (On Ben: jeans, a nice white shirt, and a black jacket over it. On Riley: a gray suit, striped tie to match, and sneakers. On Bianca: nice, khaki cargo pants and a navy blue ¾ sleeve shirt.) and go to every important building in the city trying to find someone that will believe them when they say that someone is going to steal the Declaration of Independence.

They walk out of the J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building.

"Is it really that hard to believe someone is going to steal the Declaration of Independence?" asks Riley.

"The FBI gets 10,000 tips a week. They aren't going to worry about something they know is well protected," say Bianca.

"But anyone that can do anything is going to think we're crazy. And anyone crazy enough to believe us isn't going to want to help us," Riley goes on.

"We don't need someone who's crazy. But one step short of crazy and what do you get?" asks Ben.

"Obsessed," says Riley with a laugh.

"Passionate," says Bianca.

"Passionate," says Ben pointing to her and continues walking.

"Passionate," says Bianca to Riley, shrugging, and follows Ben.

Ben, Riley, and Bianca head over to the National Archives building. They are sitting and waiting to speak to one Dr. Abigail Chase.

Bianca was looking at a pamphlet on a little table near the secretary's desk. It was advertising for the National Archives Gala.

"Hey, Ben, look at this," Bianca says passing Ben the pamphlet.

The secretary comes out of Dr. Chase's office.

"Dr. Chase will see you now, Mr. Brown," says the secretary.

"Thank you," says Ben, standing.

"Mr. Brown?" questions Riley quietly.

"Family name doesn't get a lot of respect in the academic community," explains Ben.

"Huh, being kept down by the man," says Riley.

Riley looks towards Dr. Chase.

"A very cute man," says Riley to himself.

Bianca rolls her eyes.

Dr. Chase is still on the phone.

"Thank you," she says hanging up the phone, "Good afternoon," she says turning her attention to the trio.

"Hi," says Riley.

"Abigail Chase," she introduces herself shaking Ben's hand.

"Paul Brown," he says.

"Nice to meet you," she says

Abigail then shakes Bianca's hand.

"Stephanie Russell," Bianca says taking Ben's lead.

"Nice to meet you as well," says Abigail.

She then moves on to Riley.

"Bill," he says, uncertainly.

"Nice to meet you, Bill," Abigail says looking at him weird, "How may I help you?" she asks walking behind her desk.

"Your accent...Pennsylvania Dutch?" Ben asks Abigail.

'Smooth Ben,' Bianca thinks.

"Saxony-German," Abigail says.

"Oh," says Ben.

"You're not American?" asks Riley.

When Abigail's back was turned, Bianca elbowed Riley, signaling that that wasn't a polite comment.

"Oww," he whispers.

"Oh, I'm an American, I just wasn't born here," she says, "Please don't touch that," she says looking over at Ben who was examining a button collection on Abigail's mantel.

"Sorry. Neat collection. George Washington's Campaign buttons. You're missing the 1789 inaugural though," he says tapping the place where the button should be, "I found one once."

"That's very fortunate of you," Abigail says not very impressed, "Now, you told my assistant that this was an urgent matter," she says, more seriously.

"Ah, yes ma'am," says Ben sitting in one of the chairs in front of her desk.

Riley offers the other seat to Bianca, but she puts a hand up and shakes her head; preferring to stand behind them.

"I'm going to get straight to the point. Someone is going to steal the Declaration of Independence," Ben says VERY seriously.

Dr. Chase's mouth drops open slightly, then she shifts her gaze to Riley.

"It's true," says Riley.

"I think I better put you in touch with the FBI," says Abigail reaching for the phone.

"We've been to the FBI," says Bianca.

"And?..." Abigail provokes.

"And they assured us the Declaration could not possibly be stolen," says Riley mocking the FBI person.

"They're right," she says leaning back in her chair.

"My friends and I are less certain. However, if we were given the privilege of examining the document, we would be able to tell you for certain if it were in any danger," explains Ben using a lot of hand motions.

"What do you think you're going to find?" asks Abigail.

"We believe that there is an encryption on the back," says Ben.

"An encryption of what?" asks Abigail.

'She just won't give up,' thinks Bianca.

"Uh, a cartograph," says Ben.

"A map?" Abigail goes on.

"Yes, ma'am," says Ben.

"A map of what?" she asks some more.

"The location of..." Ben clears his throat, "of items of historic and intrinsic value."

"A treasure map?" She asks, disbelievingly.

"That's where we lost the FBI," says Riley, sighing.

"You're treasure hunters, aren't you?" Abigail asks, again leaning back in her chair.

Riley gives Ben a strange sideways glance.

"We're more like...treasure protectors," says Ben.

"Mr. Brown, I have personally seen the back of the Declaration of Independence and I promise you the only thing there is a notation that reads original Declaration of Independence dated..." she explains.

"...of Independence dated 4 of July 1776. Yes, ma'am," finishes Ben.

"But no map," she says.

Ben wants to tell her why she can't see it. He stutters then looks at Riley. Riley looks at the floor and shakes his head no. Ben then looks to Bianca, who gives him a go ahead look.

"It's invisible," says Ben finally.

"Oh...right," Abigail says in disbelief.

"And that's where we lost the Department of Homeland Security," says Riley, sighing.

* * *

**A/N:** _So...I warned you, creepy Ian...now how 'bout submitting a review? (no flames, please.)_


	9. A 'Chat' with Mr Lincoln

**A/N**: _normal disclaminer applies. Aren't you happy? I've updated sooner than expected! D_

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"What led you to assume there is an invisible map?" Abigail goes back to questioning.

"You know what happens when you assume, right?" asks Bianca.

"Yes," replies Abigail.

"Well, we're not assuming. We _know_ there's a map," Bianca finishes.

"We found an engraving on the stem of a 200 year old pipe," says Ben.

"O-owned by free Masons," says Riley.

"May I see the pipe?" asks Abigail.

"We, uh, don't have it," says Ben looking from Abigail to Riley and back to Abigail.

Abigail leans on her desk.

"Did Big Foot take it?" she asks.

"Yeah, we caught him too, but he got away and took the pipe with him to have a little smoke," says Bianca getting worked up.

Ben turns to look at her.

"Enough," he says to her quietly.

'God, I'm turning into Riley with all this convincing stuff,' thinks Bianca, folding her arms across her chest.

Ben turns back to Abigail.

"It was nice meeting you," he says to Abigail with a smile and standing up.

"Nice to meet you too," says Abigail not moving from leaning on her desk.

Riley and Bianca make their way to the door.

"You know that really is a nice collection," says Ben referring to the pin collection, standing by the door, "Must have taken you a long time to hunt down all that history."

He leaves her office and meets up with Riley and Bianca who were waiting near the secretary's desk.

"Let's go," says Ben in a disappointed tone.

Bianca grabs one of the Gala pamphlets and follows Ben and Riley.

"I'm sorry Ben," says Bianca after they leave the area of Dr. Chase's office.

"For what?" asks Ben.

"For getting all worked up in there. I'm turning into him," she says pointing to Riley.

"Hey, I resent that," he says.

Bianca glares at Riley.

"It's alright. We'll figure something out," says Ben.

The 3 walk into the display room of the National Archives building, where the Declaration of Independence is on display right now.

"Ben, if it's any consolation, you had me convinced," says Riley walking behind Ben over to the Declaration.

"It's not," says Ben.

"I was thinking," starts Riley.

Bianca gasps.

"No, you can actually think?" she asks sarcastically.

"Haha...shut up," he says to her, then turns his attention back to Ben, "What if we go public? Flash this all over the internet. It's not like we have our reputations to worry about."

"Right," says Bianca sarcastically.

"Although I don't think it'll scare Ian away," finishes Riley.

A chill runs up Bianca's spine.

"I don't think anything will scare him. And half the stuff on the internet is complete bull anyway," Bianca says pointing out the obvious.

Ben walks over to the Declaration and stares at it. Bianca and Riley flank him and stare at it as well.

"180 years of searching and I'm 3 feet away. Of all the ideas that became the United States, there's one line here that is at the heart of all the others: "But when a long train of abuses and usurpations pursuing invariably the same Objects, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security." People don't talk like that anymore," says Ben thoughtfully.

"Beautiful...uh...no idea what you said," says Riley.

"It means that if something goes wrong, those that have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action...I'm going to steal it," says Ben quietly.

"What?" Bianca and Riley ask at the same time.

"I'm going to steal the Declaration of Independence," mumbles Ben walking away.

Bianca and Riley exchange shocked gazes and go to catch up with Ben.

"Uh...Ben!" say Riley going after him.

Once outside of the National Archives building, Ben makes his way to the right...towards the Lincoln Memorial. Bianca and Riley keep following him. The whole way to the Memorial, Riley keeps arguing with himself, Ben has a stern look about his face while keeping the same walking pace, and Bianca looks as if she is deep in thought. (She almost didn't see the car that was about to hit her when she was crossing the street.)

They go up the steps to the Lincoln Memorial. Riley sits on the steps near the top with his head in his hands. Bianca and Ben keep going the rest of the way up to take a look at Mr. Lincoln.

"In this temple, as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the Union, the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever," Bianca reads aloud. (**A/N: **That's what it really says. I swear.)

"Makes you think of what kind of president he would have been if he wasn't assassinated, huh?" say Ben from behind her.

"Yeah...it does...sort of," she says facing him.

She turns back to face the Memorial.

"Take a look at his hands," she says to Ben.

"What about them?" he asks.

"See how the left is making a fist and how the right has the fingers hanging over the edge and the thumb is on the side?" she asks pointing.

"Yeah, what about them?" Ben asks.

Bianca sighs.

"Don't you know sign language? A fist is an 'A' and the curled fingers and thumb is an 'L,'" she says making the letters on her own hand.

"Ahh, I get it. His initials," says Ben.

"Yes," Bianca says, nodding her head.

Ben stares a little longer at the Memorial.

"Hey, Ben, we should try to calm down Riley," says Bianca looking at the stressed out Riley sitting on the stairs.

"Yeah, okay," sighs Ben.

Ben and Bianca walk over to Riley. Ben stands on one side of him with one foot on a step higher than where they were sitting. (**A/N:** Does that make sense?) Bianca sits down next to him.

"Are you alright?" she asks Riley.

"This is huge. Prison huge," he says.

"I guess he's not," says Bianca looking up at Ben.

"You are going to prison, you know that?" Riley asks also looking up at Ben.

"Yeah, probably," Ben replies.

"That bothers most people," Riley says.

"Ben isn't like most people," says Bianca.

"Ian's going to try and steal it and if he succeeds, he will destroy the Declaration. The fact is the only way to protect the Declaration is to steal it. It's upside-down. I don't think there's a choice," says Ben.

After a few seconds, Bianca speaks up.

"I'm in," she says looking at the Washington Monument across the Reflecting Pool in front of them.

"What," says Riley flatly, looking at her.

"Well, he's right. If we don't get it, Ian will and when he's done with it, he'll probably crumble it up and throw it in a trash can. We can, at least, save that from happening to it," she explains looking back at him.

"She has a point," says Ben sitting on the stairs next to Riley.

"You're both crazy!" says Riley.

"Thank you," Bianca mumbles.

"Ben, Bianca...for god's-sake, it's like stealing a national monument. It's like stealing him," Riley says standing up and making wild hand gestures towards Lincoln, "It can't be done. It's not that it shouldn't be done, it _can't_ be done. Let me prove it to you," he finishes in a some-what more calm voice.

"Fine," say Ben and Bianca together in tones that say 'I give up.'

"Follow me," says Riley.

* * *

**A/N: **_Wheee! Thanks to all who reviewed! I appreciate it. Keep up the reviews! (remeber: no flames, please)_  



	10. Library of Congress

**A/N:** _Woohoo! Another chappie for tonight!...Well, tonight in my time-zone anyway...  
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* * *

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Riley goes down the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and goes down the right side of the Reflection Pool. Ben and Bianca follow closely behind him. They walk pass the Korean War Veterans Memorial and National World War II Memorial. They keep going past the Washington Monument, the Smithsonian, The Air and Space Museum, and the U.S. Capitol building. The whole walk took about half an hour. Bianca suggested they take a bus, but Riley insisted they walked. After they pass the Capitol building, they walk across the street to the Library of Congress.

"I've never been in here before," Bianca says when they walk into the Library.

"Then welcome to the Library of Congress," Ben says to her.

"I have to get some materials. I'll meet you guys over there," Riley says pointing to the center of the Library, "Ta."

He walks off.

"Okay, we have to get some 'materials' also," says Ben and walking in the opposite direction as Riley.

Bianca follows behind him.

"What exactly are we looking for?" asks Bianca.

"A book," says Ben.

"Wow, like I didn't know that," she says sarcastically.

Ben goes up a few sets of stairs to find the kind of book he was looking for.

"Ah ha," he says, taking a book off of the shelf.

"What?" asks Bianca.

"I found the book," he says.

He opens the book to the back glossary and looks for a specific part. He finds it and opens to the page, showing it to Bianca.

"The Preservation Room?" she questions taking the book from Ben.

"Yup. Come on," he says leading her back down the stairs to where Riley told them to meet him.

Bianca sits at the table and reads about the Preservation Room. Ben sits down next to her.

Within a few minutes, Riley comes over to them with his arms full of books and papers. He sets them down and stands opposite them. He takes a pair of glasses out of his pocket and puts them on.

'He looks cute with glasses...' Bianca thinks looking up at him.

"Are you ready yet?" Ben asks Riley.

"Just give me...yeah. I'm ready," he replies, "Okay you 2, pay attention. I brought you to the Library of Congress. Why? Because it's the biggest library in the world. Over 20 million books and they're all saying the same thing: Listen to Riley. What we have here, my friends, is the entire layout of the Archives. We've got builder's blueprints, we have construction orders, phone lines, water and sewage," he says picking up papers and putting them back down without letting Bianca or Ben to look at them.

He continues: "It's all here. Now, when the Declaration is on display, it's surrounded by guards and video cameras, and little families from Iowa, and little kids on their 8th grade field trips. And beneath an inch of bullet proof glass is an army of sensors and heat monitors that will go off if someone gets too close with a high fever. Now, when it's not on display, it's lowered into a 4 foot thick concrete, steel plated vault that happens to be equipped with an electronic combination lock and biometric access and denial systems."

"Wow, what an explanation...thanks for the info," says Bianca.

"You know Thomas Edison tried and failed nearly 2,000 times to develop the carbonized cotton filament for the incandescent light bulb," says Ben.

"Edison?" asks Riley.

"And when asked about it, he said: "I didn't fail, I found out 2,000 ways how not to make a light bulb," but he only needed to find one way to make it work. The Preservation Room," Ben says taking the book from in front of Bianca and handing it to Riley, "Enjoy. Go ahead."

Riley looks over the book. Bianca and Ben grin at each other then look back to Riley.

"Do you know what the Preservation Room is for?" asks Ben.

"Delicious jams and jellies?" Riley replies with a question.

"Not quite," says Bianca.

"That's where they clean, repair, and maintain all the documents and storage housings when they aren't on display or in the vault. Now, when the case needs work, they take it out of the vault and directly across the hall into the Preservation Room. The best time for us or Ian is to steal it, would be during the Gala this weekend when the guards are distracted by the V.I.P.s upstairs," Ben explains while Bianca pulls the pamphlet out of her pocket and hands it to Riley, "But we'll make our way to the Preservation Room where there is much less security," Ben finishes sitting back in his chair.

Riley slowly sits down in a chair across from Ben and Bianca.

"Huh...well, if Ian...Preservation Room...gala...this might be possible," Riley manages to spit out looking at Ben and Bianca.

"It might," says Ben.

"Just might," says Bianca.

They put all of their 'materials' back where they got them from. Ben takes his one book, while Bianca helps Riley put all of his books and papers back.

"Where and how'd you find all of this so fast?" asks Bianca balancing a book on her knee while tying up her hair.

"I come here often," says Riley putting a book on the shelf and watching Bianca, "That's talent."

"That's what happens when you take ballet for 4 years and gymnastics for another 5...plus about another 10 years of sports," she says, smiling, "Good balance...I like the sneakers with the suit, by the way."

"Oh...yeah," he says looking at his feet, "I like comfortable shoes."

"Same here," she says.

They finish putting everything back, and meet back up with Ben at the front door.

"We have to get things ready. We don't have much time," says Ben.

The trio heads back to Ben's apartment where they get a whole bunch of stuff together.

"Riley, you're going to have to get video of the hallway and Preservation Room. I assume you have the equipment that's necessary?" asks Ben.

"Ben, _you_ know what happens when you assume, right?" asks Bianca grinning.

"Yes, Bianca. I know what happens when you assume," says Ben.

"Well, I don't. Could you inform me?" asks Riley.

Bianca faces him: "It makes an 'ass' of 'you' and 'me'," she says, "Get it?"

"Now I do," he says.

"Do you have the equipment or not?" asks Ben impatiently.

"Yes, I have the equipment," says Riley, "Do you want me to go now?"

"That would be nice," says Ben giving him a 'wow-that-was-a-dumb-question' look.

"Fine, I need a few minutes and I'll be gone," Riley says walking away.

"What should I do?" Bianca asks Ben.

"You wanna go with him? He might be able to use your help," suggests Ben.

"Okay, I could learn some 'high-tech' stuff," she says with air quotes.

Ben rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

Bianca scampers off to go find Riley in one of the rooms. She leans on the door frame, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You need some help?" she asks making Riley jump.

"Uh, sure. Why are you helping me?" he asks.

"Ben's making me," she says simply.

"Oh," he says, "You might want to get some 'tourist' clothes."

"Um, I _am_ a tourist...Why?" she says.

"Right, sorry...You'll see," he grins.

They get their stuff together and head out to the street and into a red van. Riley drives and Bianca sits in the front seat.

"So how are we going to do this?" Bianca asks.

"With a whole bunch of wires and computer tech stuff you wouldn't understand," he says.

"Are you implying that I don't know a thing about technology?" she asks.

"It just probably won't make sense because you don't use a computer like I do," he says.

"Fine, I'll level with you. Ben didn't make me come, I wanted to come so I could actually learn the technology slash lingo," she says.

"Ah, come to learn form the Great Riley then, huh?" he asks.

"I wouldn't say Great," she says.

They pull up in front of the National Archives building.

"You just can't stay away from Dr. Chase can you?" she asks eyeing him.

"That's not why we're here and we're not even going in the building...we're going in the subway," he says.

"Subway?" Bianca questions.

"Yeah, we can tap into the surveillance cameras down there and record what should be there when we go in this weekend. Get it?" he asks.

"Yeah, I get it. I'm not ignorant," she says.

They get out of the van with a few bags filled with Riley's computer and a bunch of things they'll need to collect the data.

They take the escalator down into the subway and walk along the platform until they reach the utility room. When no one is around they go in. Riley walks over to the electrical conduit and pulls a saw out of one of the bags.

"You ever use one of these before?" asks Riley.

"Have I ever used one of these before, he asks. Gimme that," she says taking the saw from him, "I used to build play houses for little kids in college...how big do you want the hole?" she asks.

"About 2 inches or so," he says pulling out his computer and a little black box with an antenna sticking out of the side.

Bianca saws the hole.

"Okay, now what?" she asks handing the saw back to him.

"Put this cable up there," Riley says pointing to the hole in the pipe, "I'll tell you when to stop."

Bianca puts the cable in the pipe while Riley watches the video feed on his computer. There is a little camera on the end of the cable along with a clamp.

"Okay, stop," says Riley, "and move it to the left a little bit."

Bianca does what she is told and moves the cable.

"There you are...now use the clamp and grab onto the bolt that's the third from the top," he says.

"Ooookay...got it," she says, "What's that for?"

"It's the video feed to the Preservation Room," he says pressing some buttons on the computer.

Bianca walks behind him to see what he's talking about.

"Oh, I get it. Is that all?" she asks.

"We just need the hallway from the vault to the Preservation Room. It should be 2 down from the one we're clamped onto now...so move the clamp down 2," Riley says.

Bianca sighs.

"You can say 'please,'" she mumbles going back over to the cable.

She moves it down and goes back over to look at the computer. Riley presses a few more buttons.

About a minute or so later Bianca starts getting restless.

"Can we go yet?" she whines.

"Yeah, just get the cable out," says Riley.

Bianca gets the cable out and they pack up. They head back up to the street to the van. (**A/N: **That whole last scene didn't sound good...oh well, just keep your minds out of the gutter.)

"I wonder what Ben's up to..." Bianca asks herself getting into the back of the van.

Bianca and Riley sit on the floor of the van and take another look at the computer. The images of the Preservation Room and the hallway pop up.

"Game on," says Riley looking at Bianca.

"Game on," she repeats.

Riley puts the computer away and pulls something off of the shelf behind him.

"Do I have to ask what that does?" Bianca asks.

"Just watch," he says.

Riley presses a button on the little object and it emits a green beam; like a laser beam. He points the beam at a thermometer on the opposite side of the van. The temperature starts rising very quickly.

"Cool," they say together.

"Now, what?" asks Bianca.

Riley sighs.

"We take THIS and put it on top of a video camera," he says taking a camera off of the shelf from behind him, "that's why I told you to bring tourist clothes. We're going into the Archives building and..."

"And we're going to heat up the sensors on the Declaration, ya?" finishes Bianca.

"Ya, that's what we're doing," says Riley.

"See, I'm not as dumb as you think I am," she says getting smart.

"I never thought you were dumb," says Riley.

"I'm just kidding. Let's go," she says excitedly.

Riley shakes his head and rolls his eyes.

* * *

**A/N: **_So, there we go! Yet another chapter! Huzzah! I'll have more out tomorrow, but it's almost midnight, so Good night, all!_  



	11. Getting Ready for the Gala

**A/N: **_Yea! Another chapter! I'm currently watching Olympic ice hockey (I'm a HUGE hockey fan!), so if anything is messed up, I blame it on the hockey..._

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* * *

_  
Riley puts on his tourist attire. Then they grab the camera, and get out of the van. They walk up to the National Archives building and into the display room. They make it look like they're video taping the documents, but when Riley turns the camera to the Declaration of Independence, he hits the button on the laser. He did this at the right time because a little old lady was standing right in front of it. He held the beam there for a few seconds, and then shuts it off.

"Okay, let's go," says Riley.

"Now it's just a waiting game, right?" Bianca asks.

"Yup. To the van," he says with a dramatic pointing to the van and in a Batman-type voice.

Bianca chuckles a bit and follows Riley to the van.

They get into the van and Riley takes off his tourist getup. They sit on the floor and watch the hallway on Riley's computer.

Within a matter of minutes, they see the workers of the Archives carrying the Declaration from the vault to the Preservation Room.

"Our evil plan is working," says Riley.

Bianca nods.

"Let's get back to Ben," she says.

"Yeah, okay. You wanna drive or should I?" he asks.

"You can. I need a nap," Bianca replies.

"A nap? You can't tell me that wore you out?" he asks.

"No, just need a nap," she says crawling into the passenger's seat.

"Fine," says Riley getting into the driver's seat and starting the van.

Bianca props her feet up on the dashboard.

"Nice shoes," says Riley looking at Bianca's acid green, gray, and black KangaROOS.

"Thanks. I like them, too. Wake me up when we get there," she says sliding into the seat.

"Will do," he says and starts driving.

They get back to Ben's apartment and Riley shakes Bianca awake.

"Are we there?" she asks groggily.

"You really fell asleep?" Riley asks skeptically.

"Yeah," she says.

"Well, we're back," he says getting out of the van.

Bianca gets out of the van and follows Riley inside and up to Ben's apartment.

"Weeee're baaaacccck!" Bianca announces opening the door.

"Good. I could use your help," he says.

"Hello to you, too. And, oh yeah, it went well by the way," she says a little annoyed.

Ben sighs.

"Fine. I'm glad it went well. Now could you 2 please help me?" he says.

"With what?" asks Riley.

"Setting up the clean room," replies Ben.

Ben, Bianca, and Riley set up the 'clean zone' and have everything else ready for the next day. Their plan goes into action the following night when the Gala occurs.

They all get to sleep early that night, so they can stay up the next night...who knows when they'll be able to sleep again.

The next morning, Riley starts freaking out and getting really nervous. He was pacing in front of the couches. Of course Bianca was still asleep, but not anymore.

"What're you doing?" she asks half asleep to the pacing Riley.

"I'm pacing. What does it look like?" he counters.

"Well, could you stop? It's really annoying and you woke me up. You. Will. Pay," she says.

"Sorry. I'm just nervous. What if we get caught? What if something happens to any of us?" he says.

"Riley, shut up and come here," says Bianca hitting the part of the couch next to her.

Riley hesitantly sits down next to her.

"Okay, now first, take a few deep breathes," Bianca says clapping a hand on his shoulder.

"Why?" he questions.

"Just do it," she says.

He closes his eyes and takes a few deep breathes, just like Bianca said to do. He then puts his elbows on his knees and lets his head drop into his hands.

Bianca gets off of the couch silently and moves behind it. She gets behind Riley and jumps up on the back of the couch (again, silently), sits on it, and pulls Riley back by the shoulders so he's reclining on the couch. She holds onto his shoulders and massages the knots out from his shoulders. He starts to loosen up and relax a bit.

"Better?" Bianca asks after a few minutes.

"Oh, yeah," he says turning to face her, "Much. Thanks."

"Not a problem," she says shrugging.

Bianca gets off the back of the couch and walks into the kitchen.

"I'm hungry. You?" she asks Riley.

"Yeah, what're you making?" Riley asks.

"Ha! What am _I_ making? I don't think so. I stick to cereal," she says getting out a bowl and a box of cereal.

"Fine...hand over the box," he says.

They eat their cereal and when they're finished, they clean and put away their dishes and such.

* * *

Ben comes out of his room and walks into the kitchen. 

"Mornin'," he says.

"Mornin'," Bianca and Riley say in unison.

"Did you guys eat anything yet?" Ben asks.

"Yeah. Sorry, got hungry," says Bianca.

"That's okay. When ya gotta eat, ya gotta eat," he says.

Ben eats breakfast and they hang out for the rest of the day. Ben fills Riley and Bianca in on what he did yesterday. He made a custodial name tag so he could get in the building, rented a tuxedo so he could blend in, came up with a formula to get fingerprints, and a bunch of other stuff.

"...I had something sent to the Archives as well to try to get on their good side," says Ben explaining everything he did.

"You sent Dr. Chase the inaugural button didn't you?" asks Bianca from the couch.

"Uh, yeah, but there was a reason for it. I had to put the fingerprint stuff I was talking about earlier on it, so we'll be able to get an access code," Ben explains.

"Uh huh," she says flatly.

* * *

The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing. Riley took a nap and Ben was starting to get nervous. Bianca calmed him down more easily than Riley.

"How can you be so calm?" asks Ben.

"I don't know. I'm just taking it one step at a time...you know, not thinking of what's going to happen, but what's happening now," she says shrugging.

"Good idea. I should try that," says Ben.

"Yeah, you should teach Riley how to do that too, while you're at it," she says grinning, looking over to the napping Riley.

* * *

**A/N: **_So, there we go. More to come..._  



	12. The Gala I

**A/N: **_Still watching hockey...I meant to mention in the last chapter that whenever there's a break in the story (with the horizontal line), that's means I'm changing viewpoints; 'cause let's face it, some viewpoints are better than others...  
_

**Disclaimer: **_Alas, I do not own National Treasure or anything beloning to it. I just own the DVD, a movie poster, and Bianca came out of my own messed up mind..._

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* * *

_  
A few hours later, they get ready to leave. Bianca's jumping around, calming any trace of nerves she had. Ben's getting his suit on then the custodial jumpsuit. Riley's getting all of his tech gear ready.

Within mere minutes of getting ready, they're done and head out to the van. Bianca jumps in the back, while Riley and Ben are up front. They drive to the National Archives Building and park at the employee's entrance.

Ben gets out of the van and Riley joins Bianca in the back.

"Ben, are you sure we should..." Riley starts to say, but is cut off by Ben closing the door of the van.

Riley and Bianca put on the headsets, so they're able to communicate with Ben.

"Riley. Bianca, can you guys hear me?" Ben asks through the headset.

"Loud and clear, chief," says Bianca.

"Unfortunately, yeah," says Riley.

"Way to give him a boost of confidence," says Bianca covering up the microphone on the headset so Ben wouldn't hear her.

Riley just shrugs.

"We're all set in here," says Riley to Ben.

* * *

Ben makes his way into the back entrance where the workers enter. He approaches a security guard and flashes a smile and his fake I.D. badge. 

"Go ahead, man," says the guard who was occupied with a couple who needed help finding the correct entrance.

Ben has to go through a metal detector. He takes off the utility belt and puts it on the conveyor belt.

"Hey, how you doing?" asks the guard at the metal detectors.

"Howdy," he says to the guard behind the viewing screen.

Ben gets his belt and heads to a nearby restroom. He takes off the utility belt and puts it in the trash can after he takes a battery powered screwdriver out of it. He then rips off the jumpsuit to reveal his tuxedo. Ben looks at himself in the mirror and fixes his tie.

"How do you look?" asks Riley curiously in the headset.

"Not bad," says Ben calmly.

"Mazel tov," says Riley.

* * *

Bianca pulls the headset away from her mouth again. 

"Mazel tov?" she questions Riley.

"Yeah, mazel tov," he says.

* * *

Ben walks out of the restroom and heads to the display room where the shindig is taking place. He picks up 2 champagne flutes and heads over to Abigail Chase. 

"For you," he says from behind her, handing her the champagne.

"Oh, Mr. Brown," she says taking the flute.

"Dr. Chase," he smiles.

"What are you doing here?" she asks.

"Is that that hot girl? How does she look?" Riley asks in the headset.

Bianca elbows him in the ribs.

"Ow," was all Ben could hear.

"I made a last minute donation...a pretty big one," says Ben ignoring Riley.

"Well, on that subject, thank you for your wonderful gift," Abigail says.

"Oh, you did get it," says Ben excitedly.

"I really couldn't accept something like that normally, but...I really want it," she says.

"Well you needed it," says Ben.

* * *

Riley and Bianca both roll their eyes; Riley, a little more dramatically than Bianca. 

"Come on Romeo, get outta there," says a bored Riley in the headset.

* * *

"I've been wondering though, what the engraving indicated on the pipe that Big Foot took," Abigail says flirtily. 

"Hi," says some guy walking up to Abigail and Ben, "Here you go."

He hands Abigail a flute of champagne, not realizing she already had one.

"Oh, Dr. Herbert, this is Mr. Brown," says Abigail introducing the guy to Ben.

"Hi," says Dr. Herbert a little nervous.

"Hi there," says Ben.

* * *

"Who's the stiff?" Riley asks Ben. 

"You idiot, were you not listening? That's Dr. Herbert," says Bianca.

* * *

"Here why don't you let me take that, so you can take that off of his hands," says Ben taking the flute of champagne from Abigail by the bottom. 

Abigail takes the champagne from Dr. Herbert.

"Thank you," she says.

"A toast, yeah?" says Ben raising his flute, "To high treason."

Both Dr. Herbert and Abigail stare at him confused.

"That's what these men were committing when they signed the Declaration. Had we lost the war, they would have been hanged, beheaded, drawn and quartered, and oh my personal favorite, had their entrails cut out and BURNED," says Ben stressing the last part and laughing nervously.

* * *

Bianca slaps her forehead with the palm of her hand and shakes her head. 

"Way to go, Ben. Way to go," she mumbles.

* * *

"So here's to the men who did what was considered wrong in order to do what they knew was right. What they knew was right," says Ben eyeing Abigail. 

Abigail and Dr. Herbert take a sip of the champagne, while Ben chugs the whole thing.

"Well...good night," says Ben.

"Good night," says Dr. Herbert.

"Good night," says Abigail.

Ben walks off taking the flutes with him. He puts his empty flute onto a tray a waiter is carrying, but holds onto Abigail's. He goes to a water fountain and dumps out the champagne. He pulls a plastic bag out of his pocket and goes into the restroom. In one of the stalls, he takes a cotton ball and a bottle of some liquid. He puts the flute in the plastic bag and puts the liquid on the cotton and places that inside the bag as well.

"This better work," says Riley.

Ben squirts some glue type stuff in the bag and seals it.

"How does it look?" asks Riley.

The cotton ball starts to emit a purple haze.

"It's working. It's working..." says Ben.

Abigail's finger prints appear on the flute.

* * *

"Unbelievable," says Riley. 

"I knew it would work," mumbles Bianca.

Riley stares at her.

* * *

Ben pulls a rubber glove out of his pocket and puts it on his thumb. He carefully takes the flute out of the bag and inspects it for the thumbprint. When he locates it, he puts his thumb over it to get the print. 

Ben leaves the restroom and makes his way over to the elevator. He places his thumb with Abigail's print on it on the sensor pad. It scans his thumb and beeps, indicating he has the correct prints. The doors to the elevator open. Ben takes a look behind him and gets in. He presses the button to go down, and as the doors are closing he looks around the fancy elevator.

"We're in the elevator," Ben says through the headset taking off the glove.

* * *

"Okay," says Riley, "I'm going to turn off the surveillance cameras. Ready? In five, four, three...now." 

Riley hits the button on his computer sending the video feed they recorded from before to be shown in the control room.

"Ben Gates, you are now the Invisible Man," says Riley.

* * *

Ben walks over to the Preservation Room door. He looks around the corner just to be safe. 

"I'm here," he says pressing a button to make the keypad appear.

* * *

"Gimme the letters for her password," says Riley, "What'd you got for me?" 

Riley pulls up an anagram program on his computer. Bianca looks over his shoulder and rests her chin on his shoulder.

Ben gets out a black light flashlight and shines it on the keyboard. He grins looking at the keys.

"Hit me with it," says Riley cracking his knuckles.

"A...E...F...G...L...O...R...V...Y," says Ben.

Riley types the letters into the computer and hits enter.

"Anagrams are being listed. Okay, top results: a glove fry, a very golf, fargo levy, gravy floe, valley frog..." Riley goes on.

"Wait, shut up a minute Riley. Ben, how many times did she hit the 'L' and the 'E'?" Bianca asks hitting Riley in the arm.

"Uh, twice for both," he says.

"It's Valley Forge," she says, "Valley Forge."

"Valley Forge? I...I don't have that on my computer," says Riley.

"Ha, who's the smart onenow?" Bianca asks Riley, grinning.

* * *

**A/N: **_...yeah, reviews would be nice...please..._  



	13. The Gala II

**A/N: **_I don't have anything here...just still watching hockey (men's)..._

_

* * *

_"We're in," says Ben after he types in the code.

Ben walks into the Preservation Room and does a dramatic pose to the camera.

"Hello," says Riley.

Ben goes over to the case that houses the Declaration. He takes out his screwdriver and starts pulling the screws out.

"Ben, you're doing great," says Riley.

Ben gets 3 screws out before Riley speaks again.

"Ben, pick it up," he says.

Ben gets another screw out and then another.

"You've got about 1..." starts Riley.

The computer goes fuzzy.

"What happened?" asks Bianca.

"I don't know. I lost my feed. I lost my feed, Ben!" says Riley starting to freak out.

"What!" yells Ben.

"I don"t know where anyone is. I have nothing...Ben, I have...Ben I have nothing. Get out of there, get out of there now," says Riley.

Bianca and Riley investigate the cables to make sure everything is hooked up correctly and nothing came unplugged.

* * *

Ben picks up the whole case. 

"I'm taking the whole thing. I'll get it out in the elevator," says Ben walking out of the Preservation Room.

"What are you talking about? Is it heavy?" asks Riley.

"Oi," says Bianca hitting her forehead again.

* * *

Ben gets out of the Preservation Room with the Declaration and hits the elevator button with his foot. 

While waiting for the elevator, the door at the other end of the hallway bursts open. Ben turns around and sees Ian and 3 other members of his team with him.

"Gates," says Ian staring down the hallway in disbelief.

Shaw fires 3 bullets at Ben, but he gets behind the Declaration and is pushed back into the elevator doors.

* * *

"What was that?" asks Riley looking around the van. 

"It sounded like gun shots," says Bianca.

* * *

The doors to the elevator open and Ben gets in, just narrowly missing another shot from Shaw. The bullet ricochets off a part in the elevator. Ben hits the button to go up. 

"Who's shooting?" asks Riley.

The doors close and Ben gets back to getting the Declaration out of the case.

"Are you still there? Ben?" asks Riley.

"I'm in the elevator. Ian's here. There was, uh, shooting," explains Ben pulling out more screws and throwing them to a corner of the elevator.

"I hate that guy," says Riley.

"I _despise_ that guy," says Bianca.

Ben gets the Declaration out of the case and carefully, but quickly rolls it up. He puts it in a poster bag and waits for the elevator doors to open. Ben calmly walks out of the elevator. He tries to walk back into the display room, but quickly turns around and heads in the other direction when he sees Abigail coming towards him. He walks into the gift shop to hide. As he's walking out part of the Declaration is uncovered by his coat.

"Are you trying to steal that?" asks the cashier lady.

"Oh, uh," says Ben looking at a display of reproduction Declarations.

"It's 35 dollars," says the cashier.

Ben hears Bianca swear in the headset.

"For this?" questions Ben walking over to the cashier.

"Yeah," she says.

"That's a lot," says Ben digging in his pocket.

"Hey, I don't make the prices," she says.

* * *

"Yeah, but you don't lower 'em either," mumbles Bianca. She stops listening after that and helps Riley move some things around in the van.

* * *

"It's, um...I have 32, uh 57?" says Ben putting some random change on the counter. 

"We take Visa," says the cashier.

Ben walks swiftly out of the gift shop and heads outside after his new purchase.

* * *

Riley gets into the driver's seat, while Bianca hangs out in the back. 

"Where are you, Ben?" Riley starts singing and tapping his thumb on the steering wheel, "Where are you?"

Ben gets out of the building.

"Stop talking," says Ben.

"Shut it, Riley," says Bianca at the same time as Ben.

Riley and Bianca both look out of the window of the van and see Ben walking quickly over to them.

"Start the van," says Ben walking across the street.

Riley turns the key and the van sputters a little then starts up. He looks back out of the window to the Archives Building.

"Ben, the...uh, the mean D-Declaration lady's behind you," Riley stutters and slinks down in the seat.

Ben opens the back door to the van. Bianca goes over and helps him.

* * *

"Put this in there and be VERY careful with it," Ben says quietly, handing Bianca a plastic tube and the Declaration. 

"Hey," says Abigail to Ben from the street.

"Oh, it's you. Hello," says Ben closing the van door as she gets closer.

"Mr. Brown, what's going on? What's that?" she asks.

"A souvenir," says Ben.

"Really?" Abigail says skeptically.

"Stop chatting and get in the van," says Riley through gritted teeth.

"Did you enjoy the party?" asks Ben making small talk.

"Yeah," she answers, but not very convincingly.

Alarms start going off from the Archives Building. Ben puts a hand to his forehead.

"Oh, my god," says Riley also putting a hand to his forehead.

"Oh, shit," says Bianca.

"Oh, my god! You did not..." starts Abigail, "security!" she screams.

"Stop," says Ben.

Abigail turns back to Ben.

"Gimme that," she says taking the Declaration from Ben.

"It's yours, take it," he says.

"Security! Over here! Security!" shouts Abigail going back towards the Archives.

Ben opens the passenger's side door to the van and gets in.

"Go," he says to Riley, who takes off his headset and hands it to Bianca. Bianca takes hers off and puts them on the shelf.

"We can't just let her go!" says Riley.

"We can. Go!" says Ben pointing and looking out of the window, "Wait, no, hold it! Hold it!"

"Wha...?" says Riley.

"Oh, bad," says Ben.

They watch as a catering truck pulls up beside Abigail, just barely missing her. Ian and Shaw get out and try to take the Declaration from Abigail.

"Bad, bad, bad," says Ben getting out of the van.

The driver of Ian's van pulls out a gun.

"Ben, look out!" shouts Bianca.

Just as Ben was getting to the front of the van, the driver starts shooting. Ben ducks back behind the side of the van. The driver shoots out one of the headlights. Bianca sits back behind Riley.

* * *

**A/N: **_La, la, la, la, la...Wooo! USA just scored a goal!_  



	14. The 'Chase' is On

**A/N:** _Nothing new...still watching hockey, and I got tired of listening to the commentators, so I have music on now; more distractions, so I might have more little mistakes._

_

* * *

_Ian and Shaw can't get the document away from Abigail, so they pick her up and put her in their truck.

The driver keeps shooting and hits the driver's side mirror, then the window; Riley ducks just in time. The glass shattered all over Riley and Bianca.

Ian's group drives off and Ben gets back in the van. Riley sits back up in his seat.

* * *

"That's..." Riley starts to say. 

"Go! Go!" says Ben.

Riley puts the van into drive and floors it. They start following Ian.

Sirens are heard, getting closer to them.

"Once we catch them what are we going to do?" asks Riley.

"I'm working on it," says Ben.

"Oh, that's comforting," Bianca says, rolling her eyes.

Ian's van turns a corner. As they do, Bianca, Ben, and Riley see a whole bunch of police cars coming towards them. One goes skidding by trying to stay with the vans.

"Right turn, right turn," mumbles Riley as he makes the turn and follows Ian.

Ian's van almost hits a garbage truck, so they had to make a sharp turn. Little did the driver know that he was turning into a construction zone.

Both vans blast through the construction zone. Riley's following their truck with every turn. Bianca is sitting behind him holding onto the back of the seat for dear life.

"Skidding, skidding, skidding," Riley mumbles as he does, in fact, skid.

They exit the construction zone and make a right turn. Abigail must have been trying to get out because the door to the truck opens and she goes flying with it.

"Oh, no," says Ben.

"Holy Lord!" says Riley.

"Damn," says Bianca.

* * *

They keep avoiding traffic. Shaw starts to shoot at Riley, Ben, and Bianca, but Ian grabs him. 

"No, if she falls, the document falls," he says to Shaw.

* * *

Ben gets into the back of the van and opens the sliding door holding onto the seat belt. 

"Get me next to her," he says to Riley.

Riley quickly moves the van into the on-coming traffic lane and pulls up closer to the truck. A bus is heading their way and blasts its horn. Riley swerves to the left to miss it, and then swerves back after it passes. Ben tries to grab a hold of Abigail, but the truck's door swings back and Ian grabs the document from Abigail. The door swings back and Ben goes for Abigail. He stretches out his arm and she grabs onto him.

"Come on. Jump!" says Ben.

Abigail jumps and Ben catches her. Shaw starts shooting at them again. Ben and Abigail fall down towards the other side of the van. Bianca shuts the door, but she must have had her shoulder out too far because a bullet grazes it. (She doesn't even realize that she has been shot.) She shuts the door and Riley takes the next left turn to get away from Ian.

Bianca lets out a sigh of relief. Ben stands up.

"Are you alright?" Ben asks Abigail.

"No, those lunatics...they stole," she starts to yell.

"You're not hurt are you?" asks Ben again.

'Apparently, she's fine,' thinks Bianca.

"You're all lunatics," says Abigail.

"Gee, thanks," says Bianca sarcastically.

"You hungry?" ask Ben.

"What!" questions Abigail, looking at Ben confused.

"Are you alright?" Ben asks her again, slower this time.

"Still a little on edge from being shot at, but I'll be okay. Thanks for asking," says Riley from the driver's seat.

"Well, I'm not alright. Those men have the Declaration of Independence!" says Abigail.

"She lost it!" asks Riley.

"They don't have it," says Bianca handing the plastic tube that holds the real Declaration to Ben.

"See? Okay? Now can you please stop shouting," Ben says showing the Declaration to Abigail.

"Gimme that!" says Abigail trying to grab the document from Ben, but Ben pulls it away and puts it back in the tube.

"You're still shouting and it's really starting to annoy. You'd do well, Dr. Chase, to be a bit more civilized in this instance," says Ben heading back up to the passenger's seat.

Riley and Bianca let out a laugh.

"If this is the real document, what did they get?" asks Abigail, sitting behind Riley's seat.

Bianca sits next to her behind Ben.

"A souvenir. I thought it might be a good idea to have a duplicate. Turned out I was right. Actually, I had to pay for both the souvenir and the real one, so you owe me 35 dollars plus tax," explains Ben.

"Genius," laughs Riley.

"Nice," says Bianca, grinning.

"Who were those men?" asks Abigail, still yelling.

"Just the guys we warned you were going to steal the Declaration," says Ben.

"And you didn't believe us," taunts Riley.

"We did the only thing we could do to keep it safe," says Ben.

"Verdammt! Gimme that!" Abigail shouts again and trying to grab the Declaration. (**A/N: **Does anyone know German well enough to translate that for me?)

"You know something, you're shouting again," says Ben pulling it away from her.

"I'm pretty sure she was swearing too," says Riley.

"Well, we probably deserve that," says Ben.

"I think we _do_ deserve it, not _probably_," says Bianca.

"There is _not_ a treasure map on the back of the Declaration of Independence," says Abigail folding her hands in front of her face.

"And there was no chance anyone could steal this," says Ben shaking the container holding the Declaration, "either," he finishes his sentence shaking it again. "I leveled with you 100 percent. Everything I told you was the truth," says Ben quite calmly.

"I want that document Mr. Brown," demands Abigail.

"Okay, my name's not Brown. It's Gates. I leveled with you 98 percent," says Ben watching the road.

"Wait a minute, did you just say Gates?" she asks.

Riley cringes.

"Gates? You're that family with the conspiracy theory about the founding fathers," Abigail finishes.

Bianca sits with her back against Ben's seat, pulls her knees up to her chest, groans, and puts her head in her hands.

"It's NOT a conspiracy theory," says Ben.

"Per say," says Riley.

"Ooooh, Riley. I'm going to hurt you once we stop," Bianca threatens, looking up to him.

Riley gulps.

"I take it back. You're not liars...you're insane," says Abigail.

"Thanks, again," mumbles Bianca.

* * *

"You can't seriously intend to run chemical tests on the Declaration of Independence in the back of a moving van," states Abigail after Ben told her what they were planning on doing. 

"Not in the van. We have a clean room environment all set up," says Bianca.

"ETS suits, a particulate air filtration system, the whole shebang," says Riley.

":Really?" says Abigail a little more interested.

"We can't go back there," says Ben.

"What?" asks Bianca kneeling behind Ben's seat again.

"What? Why not?" asks Riley at the same time.

"Ben? How did you pay for the souvenir?" asks Bianca slowly.

"Uh, credit card?" says Ben.

Bianca growls and punches the back of the seat.

"A credit card slip? Dude, we're on the grid. Do you...they'll have your records from forever. They'll have my records from forever. They'll probably have Bianca's, too," says Riley freaking out.

"I know. I know. It's only a matter of minutes before the FBI shows up at my front door," says Ben trying to calm Riley down.

"What do we do?" asks Riley.

"We need those letters," says Ben thoughtfully.

"What letters?" asks Abigail.

"You know what? Get off the road; take a right," says Ben to Riley totally ignoring Abigail.

"What letters?" asks Abigail again, but more forcefully.

They drive for a few blocks until they reach a place across the water from the Jefferson Memorial where they can park the van on the grass. They stop and Riley shuts off the engine. Ben gets out of the van. He starts pacing while Bianca opens the sliding door and sits on the edge closest to the front, cross-legged. Abigail moves next to her. Riley jumps over into the passenger's seat, rolling down the window.

"Since Ben's being all honest, I guess I might as well be. I'm Bianca Lewis, not Stephanie...whoever I said," says Bianca waving her hand at the last part and extending it to Abigail.

Abigail shakes Bianca's hand and Bianca continues.

"That one's Riley. Not Bill like he previously said," explains Bianca indicating to Riley in the passenger's seat with her thumb.

Abigail looks down at Bianca's shoulder.

"You're bleeding," she says casually.

"What?" Bianca asks following her gaze, "Huh, would you look at that?"

Bianca gets up and gets some tissues and duct tape from inside the van. She places the tissue over the gash, then tapes it down.

A few minutes later, after a long silence, Ben explains the letters to Abigail and taking his grand ol' time doing it, too.

"You have the original Silence Dogood letters? Did you steal those too?" asks Abigail after Ben explained the letters to her.

Bianca groans silently again and hits her head repeatedly on the back of the seat Riley's in.

"Do you mind?" he asks her.

"No, do you?" she ask stopping for a second.

"Yeah, I do actually," he says.

"Too bad," she replies and goes back to hitting her head. (**A/N: **I make her hit her head a lot, don't I? Oh well, lots of people do it...including me.)

"We have scans of the originals. Quiet please," says Ben answering Abigail.

"How'd you get scans?" asks Abigail, not listening to Ben.

"Oh, I know the person who has the originals. Now shush," says Ben dramatically.

Riley leans his head on the window frame and shakes his head.

"Why do you need them?" Abigail asks, rolling her eyes.

"She really can't shut her mouth, can she?" asks Ben to Riley and Bianca.

Riley raises his hand in an 'I-don't-know' sort of way. Bianca shakes her head no.

"I'll tell you what, look. I'll let you hold onto this if you'll promise to shut up, please. Thank you," says Ben handing Abigail the container holding the Declaration.

"Ben, you know what you have to do," says Riley looking at him.

"I know what to do, I'm just trying to think of anything else we could do," says Ben.

"Well, not to be a, uh, nudge, but you do realize how many people we have after us. We probably have our own satellite by now," says Riley.

"That might be exaggerating it a bit," says Bianca looking up at him.

"It took you all of 2 seconds to decide to steal the Declaration of Independence," Riley continues.

"Yeah, but I didn't think I was gonna personally have to tell my dad about it," says Ben flinging his head around.

Abigail takes off her shoes unnoticeably and tries to run off.

"Ben!" shouts Bianca.

"Hey! Not cool, not cool," says Ben running after her.

Riley gets out of the van; Bianca stands up next to him.

* * *

Ben catches her only a few yards away and picks her up so she won't go anywhere. 

"Let me go!" Abigail screeches.

Ben puts her down and grabs the Declaration from her.

"Okay. You're let go. Go, shoo," says Ben making shooing gestures with his hand.

"I'm not going. Not without the Declaration," she says trying to get it back.

Ben rips it away from her.

"You're not going _with_ the Declaration," grunts Ben slinging it over his shoulder.

"Yes, I am. I'm not letting it out of my sight, so I'm going," she says grabbing the strap and pulling it, making Ben come with it.

"Wait. You're not going with us with the Declaration," says Ben trying to pull away.

"Yes, I am," says Abigail in a hushed tone, pulling Ben back.

"No, you're not," Ben says only a few inches away from her face.

* * *

"Oh, no," says Bianca letting her forehead fall on Riley's shoulder. 

"What?" he asks trying to look at her.

"She's coming with us AND I don't like the way they're looking at each other," she says muffled by his shoulder.

"Oh. Great," he says flatly.

* * *

"Look, if you wanted to leave me behind, you shouldn't have told me where you were going," says Abigail. 

Ben tries to think of something to say, but only sighs in defeat. Riley puts his head back and hits the van. Bianca stays on his shoulder.

* * *

**A/N: **_Well, there ya go! Now I'm going to warm up my hands. I can't feel my fingers, they're so cold._  



	15. Meeting Mr Patrick Gates

**A/N: **_Normal disclaimer applies...for the next 9 days I'm free of college! Wooo! Thank you Spring Break! So expect more updates. Yea!

* * *

_ They all get back in the van and drive to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...which is a good 3 hour drive. Ben gives Riley directions the whole way there. Bianca sits on the floor of the van behind Riley and Abigail sits on a box behind Ben. They pull up in front of Ben's father's house.

"Looks okay," says Riley stopping and looking at the house.

"Park a couple blocks away," says Ben also looking at the house and untying his tie.

Bianca sits up from her spot on the floor and looks out of the window. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to see her old house from her position in the van.

"How long do you think we've got?" asks Riley.

"I'm gonna give 'em a couple of hours at least. I hope," says Ben loosening his bow tie.

Riley starts moving the van again.

"What do we do about her?" asks Riley.

"There's some duct tape back here," says Bianca grabbing the tape.

Abigail's eyes go wide.

"No, that won't be necessary. She won't be any trouble. Promise you won't be any trouble?" Ben asks Abigail.

"I promise," she says rolling her eyes.

"See? She's curious," says Ben.

Bianca sadly puts the duct tape back on the shelf in the back.

Riley drives the van around the corner and parks nearby. They all get out of the van and walk back to the house. Abigail and Riley walk up the walkway, while Bianca stops at the sidewalk and looks to her old house on the left of Ben's old house. Ben stands next to her.

"You alright?" he asks her.

"Yeah, just...remembering," Bianca replies sadly, "Look, Ben, the swing set's still there."

A tear pushes its way out of her out eye, but she rubs it away before Ben could notice. She had just thought of her parents.

Ben puts his arm around her shoulders.

"Oww!" Bianca says, grabbing her shoulder.

"What? What'd I do?" Ben asks removing his hand.

"It's not you. I think a bullet grazed me when I was closing the door to the van," she explains and takes off the tape and tissues; showing Ben the wound.

"Ooh, come on. We'll clean it up inside," he says pulling her up the walkway.

Bianca stops behind Ben and Riley and Abigail stand on the other side of him. Ben rings the door bell and he looks very nervous.

Mr. Patrick Gates opens the door and looks shocked.

"Dad," says Ben bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Where's the party?" Patrick asks looking at Ben and Abigail's clothes.

"Well, uh, I'm in a little trouble," says Ben looking at everyone behind him.

"She pregnant?" asks Patrick looking at Abigail.

Bianca raises an eyebrow.

"Well, if she is, are you going to leave the woman carrying your grandchild standing out in the cold?" asks Ben smiling.

Abigail looks at Riley.

"I look pregnant?" she whispers to Riley.

Riley shuts his eyes and shakes his head no.

* * *

Patrick looks at her and gestures for them to come inside. Ben walks in first. 

"This better not be about that dumb treasure," Patrick whispers to him.

Ben nods and keeps walking.

* * *

Riley walks in next, then Abigail, then Bianca. 

"Hi, Mr. Gates. Remember me?" she asks Patrick, "Here's a hint: I used to live next door until I was in college."

"Bianca? Bianca Lewis? How've you been?" he asks.

"I'm alright. You?"

"I've been better," he says eyeing Ben's back.

"Oh," she says and follows everyone else into the living room.

"Well, have a seat. Make yourselves comfortable," says Patrick walking into the room, "There's some pizza. Still warm, I think."

Riley looks around and walks over to the fireplace. Bianca stands behind the chair near the pizza and Abigail stands next to Riley; making him stand in between the 2 woman.

Ben turns to his dad and gets right to the point.

"Dad, I need the Silence Dogood letters. Yeah, it's about the treasure," he says.

Patrick looks shocked...again.

"And he dragged you 3 into this?" he asks Bianca, Riley, and Abigail.

"Literally," says Abigail nodding.

"I volunteered," says Riley.

"Yeah, me too," Bianca chimes.

"I thought you were smarter than that, Bianca," says Patrick.

Bianca's mouth drops open and looks taken aback.

"You better un-volunteer yourselves before you waste your life," Patrick continues looking from Bianca to Riley and walking towards them.

"Knock it off dad," says Ben.

"Sure, sure, I know, I'm the family kook," says Patrick to Ben.

Riley takes the opportunity to sneak over to the pizza and get a slice.

"I have a house, a job, health insurance. At least I had your mother, for however brief a time. At least I had you," he goes on.

Bianca closes her mouth at the part of Ben's mother being mentioned.

"What do you have? Him?" he says pointing to Riley, who munches on a slice of pizza.

"Look, if you just give us the letters, we're gone," says Ben trying to get his father to cooperate.

Patrick walks back to where he was standing before he walked over to Bianca and Riley.

"You disappoint me Ben," says Patrick.

'Ouch, that's harsh,' thinks Bianca.

"Well maybe that's the real Gates-family legacy. Sons who disappoint their fathers," says Ben getting in his father's face.

Bianca taps Riley on the shoulder. He turns around and she gestures to him to give her a slice of the pizza.

"Get out. Take your troubles with you," Patrick says to Ben facing away from him.

"I found the Charlotte," Ben whispers to Patrick.

"_The_ Charlotte? You mean she was a ship?" asks Patrick now getting more interested.

"Yeah, and she was beautiful," says Ben.

"She really was," says Bianca.

"It was amazing, dad," Ben goes on.

"And the treasure?" asks Patrick.

Ben rubs his chin.

"No, no, but we found another clue that led us here..." he starts to say.

"Yeah, and that'll lead you to another clue. And that's all you'll ever find is another clue. Don't you get it, Ben?" Patrick asks starting to walk away from him, "I finally figured it out. The legend said the treasure was buried to keep it from the British, but what really happened was the legend was invented to keep the British occupied searching for buried treasure. The treasure is a myth," he says.

Ben sighs.

"I refuse to believe that," he says.

Patrick walks back to his son and looks him in the eye.

"Well, you can believe what you want. You're a grown person. What am I doing? Do what you want, Ben. Do what you want," he says and walks away.

"He's probably right. You don't even know if there is another clue," says Abigail quietly.

Ben looks from Abigail, to Riley, to Bianca.

"Well, I can think of a way where we could find out. And we can find out right now," says Ben.

Bianca grins.

* * *

**A/N:**_ I swear my writig isn't that great, but that's just what I think...whatever..._

_Sorry, that was really random... _


	16. The Ottendorf Cipher

**A/N: **_Wooo! I have Spring Break for the rest of this week, so expect more updates! I actually meant to have this out like yesterday or Monday, but my mom drafted me into doing inventory at her shop, so I was stuck counting EVERYTHING in there...I'm off counting for a while..._

* * *

Ben, Bianca, Riley, and Abigail get out some Q-tips, gloves, lemons, water glasses, and the Declaration. They put everything on the dinning room table that is covered in plastic garbage bags. Ben, Bianca, and Abigail have cloth gloves on, while Riley has a pair of yellow cleaning gloves. Everyone helps to place the document on the table except Bianca. She claims that she would destroy it somehow and doesn't trust herself.

Bianca sits on a stool opposite Ben and Abigail. Riley stands on the side (He has his glasses on again).

"Looks like animal skin. How old is it?" asks Patrick coming around the corner of the wall.

"At least 200 years," says Ben.

"Really? You sure?" Patrick asks some more.

"Pretty damn," says Ben.

"Now if this thing's in invisible ink, how do we look at it?" Riley asks.

"Throw it in the oven," says Patrick.

"No," say Ben, Abigail, and Bianca.

"Uh," says Riley raising a hand.

"Ferrous sulfate inks can only be brought out with heat," explains Patrick.

"Yes, but this..." says Abigail.

"It's very old," says Ben interrupting her, "This is very old and we can't risk compromising the map."

"You need a reagent," says Patrick walking away.

"Dad, it's really late. Why don't you get some rest?" suggests Ben.

"I'm fine," comes Patrick's voice from the kitchen.

Bianca shakes her head grinning.

"Lemons," says Ben.

Riley passes him the bowl of quartered lemons and Ben takes a piece out. Ben leans down to squeeze the lemon on the Declaration.

Abigail's hand shoots out and grabs his wrist.

"You can't do that," she says.

"But it has to be done," says Ben looking at her.

"Then someone who's trained to handle antique documents is going to do it," she says only inches away from Ben's face.

"Okay," says Ben.

Bianca and Riley look at each other.

Ben and Abigail stand upright. Abigail puts the back of her hand to her forehead.

"Okay, now, uh, if there is a secret message, it'll probably be marked by a symbol in the upper-right hand corner," she says.

"That's right," says Ben not taking his eyes off of her.

Abigail takes a Q-tip and soaks it in lemon juice. She and Ben both lean back down towards the Declaration.

"I'm so getting fired for this," says Abigail.

Bianca fights back a grin.

Abigail hesitantly puts the Q-tip to the document and spreads around the lemon juice. Patrick comes out from the kitchen to look. They all stare at it for a while to see if anything happens. After a few seconds, Abigail sighs and give Ben a 'see?-I-told-you-so' look.

"I told you. You need heat," says Patrick from the kitchen.

Since Bianca's back was to the kitchen, she didn't see Patrick, so when he said something, she almost fell off of the stool.

Ben and Abigail look at each other than breath lightly on the document where the lemon juice was put on.

A Masonic symbol appears. Ben, Abigail, Bianca, and Riley all smile.

"See?" says Patrick going back into the kitchen.

"We need more juice," says Ben quietly.

"We need more heat," says Abigail.

"And _I_ need some bandages," Bianca says rolling up her sleeve.

Ben goes into the kitchen and gets more lemons, then goes into the bedroom and gets a hair dryer out of the drawer. He grabs some bandages from the bathroom also.

Ben comes back and tosses the bandages at Bianca. She places a few on her shoulder.

"What happened?" Riley asks Bianca.

"I think a bullet got a piece of me," she replies.

"Ow," Riley says quietly.

Ben, then hands Bianca a pad of paper and a pen.

"Write down anything," he says to her.

"Yes, sir," she says saluting him.

Ben and Abigail coat the Declaration with lemon juice, then Abigail takes the hair dryer and runs it over the lemon juice.

A whole bunch of numbers appear in groups of 3.

"Ben, I can't read numbers upside-down, you do it," says Bianca handing the paper and pen over to Ben, "It'll probably be easier than reading them off to me anyway."

"That's not a map...Is it?" asks Riley.

"More clues. What a surprise," says Patrick coming back in the dinning room from the kitchen.

"Are those latitudes and longitudes?" asks Riley.

"No, they're..." Bianca starts to say looking at the numbers.

"That's the key?" says Abigail cutting Bianca off.

"Yeah. 'The key in Silence undetected.' Dad, can we have the letters now?" Ben says to Abigail, then asks his father.

"Will somebody please explain to me what these magic numbers are?" asks Riley getting frustrated.

"Chill out! I'm trying...it's an Ottendorf cipher," says Bianca.

"That's right," says Patrick pointing to her.

"Oh, okay...What's an Ottendorf cipher?" Riley asks.

"They're just codes," says Patrick.

Bianca gets off of the stool and slides it over to Riley, so she's sitting next to him.

"Each of these 3 numbers corresponds to a word in a key," says Ben.

"Usually a random book or a newspaper article," Abigail says.

"Ben, can I see the paper?" she asks Ben.

Ben passes Bianca the paper with the numbers on it.

"In this case, it would be the Silence Dogood letters. So, look, the page number of the key text, the line on that page, and the letter in that line," Bianca explains to Riley pointing to each number on the paper as she does.

"So, dad, where are the letters?" Ben asks Patrick standing up.

"You know, it's just by sheer happenstance that his grandfather..." Patrick starts.

"Dad," says Ben.

"Even found those. They were in an antique desk from the press room..." Patrick keeps going.

"Dad," says Ben getting irritated.

"From the New England Current. That's a newspaper," Patrick finishes.

"Dad, where are the letters?" Ben asks again.

"I don't have them, son," Patrick finally says.

"What?" asks Ben.

"I don't have them," Patrick repeats looking around the room bashfully.

Riley's mouth drops open, Abigail shakes her head, Bianca puts her head in her hands and growls, and Ben sits on a nearby chair and takes his gloves off with his teeth.

Ben clears his throat.

"Where are they?" Ben asks very calmly under the circumstances.

"I donated them to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia," states Patrick.

"Time to go," says Ben looking at the other 3. He gets up and puts his coat back on.

"I still can't believe it. All this time no one knew what was on the back," says Abigail putting a hand to her face.

"The back of what?" asks Patrick picking up the Declaration.

"Whoa!" says Riley.

"No," both Bianca and Ben say at the same time.

"Oh, my god. Oh, my god," says Patrick once he knew what it was.

"I know," says Ben rather calmly.

"Oh, my god. What have you done? This is...this is..." Patrick starts to say.

"I know," says Ben again, but with a little more force.

"This is the Declaration of Independence," Patrick says almost crying.

"Yes. And, it's very delicate," says Abigail taking the Declaration way from Patrick

"You stole it?" asks Patrick looking over at Riley and Bianca.

Riley points over to Ben. Bianca elbows him again.

"Dad, I can explain, but I don't have the time. It was necessary. And you saw the cipher," says Ben walking over to his father.

"And that will lead to another clue. And that'll lead to another clue. There is no treasure. I wasted 20 years of my life. And now you've destroyed yours. And you pulled me into all this," says Patrick.

"Well, we can't have that," says Ben.

* * *

**A/N: **_I'm planning on getting more out tonight...stupid dial-up and the 'rents need to make phone calls. rolls eyes_  



	17. Philadelphia, PA

**A/N:**_ I just came back from three hours of bowling (it's now 1:00 AM) with my good friend_ _and I have a weird story to tell_ _if anyone wants to know, but I'm sure you don't, so on with the story!_

_

* * *

_  
"What do you have in mind?" asks Abigail.

"Bianca, Riley. Go to the van and get the duct tape," says Ben. (**A/N:** _yeah, I know there was duct tape on the table, but just pretend there wasn't)_

"Aye, aye," says Bianca.

Bianca and Riley go out the front door and run to the van. When they get to the van Riley unlocks the door and Bianca jumps in and grabs the duct tape off the shelf. Then they make their way back to the house.

"How did you know about the Ottendorf cipher?" Riley asks Bianca on their way back.

"Uh, hello? Cryptgrapher? I work with stuff like that all the time," says Bianca.

"Oh, right," says Riley looking at the ground.

They run back to the house and go inside.

"I've got the tape," says Bianca handing it to Ben.

"Good," says Ben taking it from her.

They make Patrick sit in a chair that Ben had positioned in front of the television. They take the duct tape and tape him to the chair. They give him the remote to the television and a cup with a long straw.

"Comfy?" Bianca asks Patrick.

"Not really, but I shouldn't be here long, right?" he says.

"Oh, shit, right. Let's go. We'll see you around, dad," says Ben.

Ben grabs his father's car keys to his Cadillac Deville and they all head for the garage. Ben and Abigail get into the front seats and Bianca and Riley jump in the back. Ben passes the container with the Declaration in it to Riley, who instantly tries to get comfortable and invades Bianca's space. He closes his eyes, but still continues to talk.

"Your dad's got a sweet ride," Riley says.

"I think we should change clothes. We look kinda conspicuous, don't you think?" says Ben.

"Just a little," says Bianca trying to avoid Riley's feet.

"I would love to go shopping too, but we have no money," says Riley, still with his eyes closed.

"Here, I took this from his house," says Ben handing a little black book over to Abigail, "He usually tucks a few hundred dollars somewhere between those pages."

"_Common Sense_. How appropriate," says Abigail reading the title.

She holds the book by its covers and lets the pages swing loosely making any money fall out onto her lap.

"When are we gonna get there? I'm hungry. This car smells weird," Riley begins to complain.

"Shut up, Riley," Bianca mumbles.

Bianca got tired of having to deal with Riley taking her foot space, so she pulls her feet up above the seat (being careful not to let them touch the seat) and puts them on Riley's lap.

"Hey!" says Riley opening his eyes.

"Hey, yourself," says Bianca.

"What do I look like? A foot rest?" he asks.

"Isn't it obvious? You kept taking my space, so I'm taking yours," she says simply.

"Fine," he says sighing in defeat.

Bianca grins and leans back against the window.

"You 2 are just like little kids," says Abigail looking back at Bianca and Riley.

"Eh, what'd ya gonna do?" says Bianca.

She joins Riley in a nap.

Within a few hours, the sun started coming up and the 4 were almost in center city Philly (**A/N: **_or Philadelphia if you prefer)_. Ben parks the car and they get out.

"We need to look for somewhere to get clothes," says Ben looking around.

"I saw an Urban Outfitters a few blocks back," says Bianca yawning.

"Perfect," says Abigail.

Ben, Abigail, Bianca, and Riley head down the street to the store. They go inside and separate. Bianca goes with Abigail to help pick out some clothes and Riley goes with Ben to do the same. They all meet back up on the top floor at the dressing rooms.

"Riley, I need you to go get the letters from the...letters. Could you go do that and meet us back here?" Ben asks Riley.

"Yeah, I guess," he says.

"Be careful. You never know if Ian'll be around," says Ben.

"Right-o," says Riley and goes to leave.

"And what about me?" asks Bianca.

"You can go with him if you want," says Ben, "You can help him solve the next clue slash riddle."

"I think I'll look around first, then I'll catch up with him. I know where he's going," she says shrugging.

"Okay, but you be careful too. You have more to be careful for," says Ben.

"Gee, thanks for reminding me, Ben. You just brought that bad taste to my mouth again," she says, shivering and sticking out her tongue.

"Sorry," he says.

"Yeah, whatever," she mumbles and walks off.

She looks around the store for a bit, then leaves and goes towards the Franklin Institute, where she"ll meet up with Riley. Bianca goes into a store a few blocks away from where Ben and Abigail are. She goes in and buys a pair of sunglasses...pretty nice sunglasses at that. (**A/N: **_Oakley's! Where'd she get the money, you ask? She had a few (hundred) dollars in her wallet and didn't tell anyone, okay?_) She goes out of the store and decides to go help Riley.

Bianca rounds the corner to the Franklin Institute and sees Riley sitting on a bench across the street. She goes up to him and sits on the bench next to him.

"Hey...Hey!" he says doing a double-take, "Nice shades."

"You think so? I like 'em," says Bianca, "Whatcha doin'?"

"I'm getting the next clue," he says.

"How can you do that if you're sitting out here? Aren't they in there?" asks Bianca pointing to the museum.

"Just look," he says.

As he says that, a kid in a school uniform and a backpack comes running across the street.

"S, S, A, N, D," says the kid handing Riley a piece of yellow paper and sitting on the other side of him on the bench.

"Hmm, you sure this is right?" Riley asks the kid.

The kid gives him a look.

"Okay, S, S, A..." Riley says writing the letters on the edge of the newspaper he was holding.

He wrote down the 'N', but it didn't look like an 'N'.

"No N," the kid says.

"That is an N," says Riley.

"It doesn't look like one," says the kid.

"He's right. It looks like a lower case 'R'," says Bianca trying to get on Riley's nerves.

"I thought you were here to help me," he says to her.

"I am. I'm helping you distinguish your 'R's' from your 'N's'," she says over her sunglasses.

"You know what? Here. Last one. Okay? One more dollar," says Riley giving the kid a dollar.

"Thank you," says the kid taking the dollar.

"Go get the last 4 letters. Go get 'em, chief. Come on," says Riley to the kid giving him another yellow piece of paper.

The kid runs back into the Franklin.

"You're bribing a kid with money?" Bianca questions Riley.

"Hey, it's better than going in there myself and probably being seen by Ian," says Riley.

Bianca makes a face and sticks out her tongue (again) when Riley mentions Ian.

"Yeah, okay," she says regaining her composure.

A middle aged woman walks by the two of them. She stops and turns to them.

"You two make a cute couple," she states.

Riley and Bianca look up at her; Bianca's mouth dropping open slightly.

"Oh, were not toge..." Bianca starts to say.

"Thank you," Riley interrupts, putting his arm around Bianca's shoulders.

Bianca gives him a look as the woman nods and continues on her way.

Riley takes his arm off Bianca's shoulders once the woman was out of sight.

"Sorry about that," he mumbles, his cheeks going slightly pink.

"It's alright," Bianca also mumbles, and looks down at her shoes; her own cheeks going pink.

Riley clears his throat.

"Okay. Here's what I've got: 'The vision to see the treasured past, comes as the timely shadow passes in front of the house of pass and'...something. That's all I have. Pass and what?" says Riley.

"Good question," says Bianca.

"Pass and..." Riley starts to say.

Just then, a city bus stops right in front of Riley and Bianca. On the side is an advertisement for 'Grand Liberty Bank.' It's displaying the Liberty Bell.

"Riley, look at the bus. The Liberty Bell," says Bianca taking off her sunglasses.

"Pass and Stow," says Riley, "Let's go."

Bianca and Riley jump over the wall behind them and run back to meet up with Ben and Abigail. Bianca and Riley run up the stairs in the store and see Ben and Abigail at the register. Bianca perches her sunglasses on top of her head.

"Hey," says Riley once they reached the top.

"Did you get it?...Nice shades, Bianca," says Ben excitedly.

"Thanks...Oh, we got it," she says.

"The vision to see the treasured past, comes as the timely shadow crosses in front of the house of Pass and Stow," says Riley turning the newspaper he wrote the clue on as he reads it, "Now Pass and Stow, of course," Riley gives an airy laugh, "referring to the..."

"The Liberty Bell," say Abigail and Ben together, cutting off Riley.

"W-why do you have to do that?" asks Riley.

"Well, John Pass and John Stow cast the bell," says Abigail.

"Okay. Well, then, what does the rest of this mean?" asks Riley.

Ben starts walking around the 3 others.

"Wait, the vision to see the treasured past, must refer to a way to read the map," says Ben.

"Obviously," mumbles Bianca.

"I thought the cipher was the map," says Riley.

"No, the cipher was a way to find the _way_ to read the map," says Bianca thoughtfully.

"Yep," says Ben.

"And the way to read the map can be found where the timely shadow crosses in front of the Liberty Bell," says Abigail walking closer to Ben.

"Crosses in front of the _house_ of the Liberty Bell. Independence Hall," says Ben.

"Right, so timely shadow...it's a specific time," says Abigail.

"Uh, what time?" asks Riley.

"What time? What time? Wait, wait, you're going to love this," Ben says very excitedly to Abigail, "Excuse me, can I see one of those hundred dollar bills I paid you with?" he asks the cashier.

"No," she says.

"Well, uh, I have this diver's watch. It's called a submariner. I dive with it. It's actually quite valuable. You can use it as collateral," says Ben taking off his watch and handing it to the cashier.

"Whatever," she says and takes the watch.

"Thank you," says Ben.

He turns to Abigail.

"On the back of the hundred-dollar bill is an etching on Independence Hall, based on a painting..." Ben starts to say.

"Hello," interrupts the cashier handing him the bill.

"Thank you," he says to her and continues without skipping a beat, "in the 1780's, who and the artist was actually a friend of Benjamin Franklin's. It's wonderful," says Ben to the cashier.

"Fascinating," says the cashier, but not very interested.

"Hold this," he says passing the container with the Declaration to Abigail.

"Okay," she says going to sling it over her shoulder.

Ben pulls it back and looks at her.

"I'm not going anywhere," she says.

They smile at each other.

Bianca wanted to pound her head on the counter, but just slapped her forehead again.

"Now, I think that if we look at this clock tower, we may find the specific time," says Ben flipping the bill over and picking up one of the water bottles sitting on the counter.

Ben holds the water bottle in front of his face like a magnifying glass and looks at the clock.

"What do you see?" asks Abigail.

"2:22," replies Ben.

"What time is it now?" Abigail asks.

"Almost 3," says the cashier looking at Ben's watch that she was holding.

Ben looks at Bianca and Riley, then looks to Abigail.

"We missed it," whines Abigail.

"No, we didn't," says Riley looking to Ben, "We didn't miss it because...uh...you don't know this? I-I know something about history that you don't," gloats Riley.

"I'd be very excited to learn about it, Riley," says Ben, flatly.

"Well, hold on a second, let me just..." Riley relaxes his shoulders and takes a breath, "let me just take in this moment. This is...this is cool," he says looking around, "Is this how you feel all the time? Because, you know...except for now, of course," he says looking back at Ben.

Ben gives him a weird look and Abigail looks pretty annoyed. Bianca's ready to sock him.

"Riley!" says Abigail at the same time Bianca slaps his shoulder.

Ben looks from Abigail to Riley.

"Ow, alright. What I know is that daylight savings wasn't established until World War I. If it's 3 pm now, okay, that means in 1776, it would be 2 pm," says Riley.

"Let's go," says Abigail walking away.

"Riley, you're a genius," says Ben exchanging the bill back for his watch. He then walks away.

"I wouldn't say 'genius'," says Bianca following Ben.

"Yeah," says Riley still at the cash register.

"Come on, Riley," says Bianca like he was a dog.

"Right. Do you actually know who the first person to suggest daylight savings was?" asks Riley.

"Benjamin Franklin," Bianca, Ben, and Abigail say at once.

Riley does a little hop in defeat just before he goes down the stairs.

"Awe, Riley, you should really brush up on your history, then you could get Ben," says Bianca putting her hand on his shoulder and grinning as they go down the stairs.

"Haha. Very funny," he says sarcastically, "Why do you always have to hit me?" he asks Bianca.

She slides her hand off of his shoulder.

"Someone has to keep you in line," she says walking ahead of him, grinning. She looks back at him and flips her sunglasses back down on her face.

* * *

**A/N: **_Awwww...Riley and Bianca both blushed...how cute...dear, god, I need sleep. Good Night! I'll have more out later._  



	18. Trouble at Independence Hall

**A/N: **_Wow, okay from my early morning post to now, I think I got 11 hours of sleep! That's the longest I've gotten for a while...amazing. Anywho, here's another chapter!_

_

* * *

_  
The group walks to Independence Hall where they join in with one of the tour groups so they blend in. They walk through a hall and Ben takes a slight detour to the left. Bianca, Riley, and Abigail all follow trying not to look conspicuous. They all jump over a rope that says employees only and go up some stairs. They cross a walkway that might get them into trouble if they were seen. Ben opens a door that leads to the bell tower. Abigail and Bianca follow and Riley follows after looking back and closing the door. They walk past the clock parts.

"Neat stuff," Riley mumbles.

In the bell tower, they're able to find the shadow of the point.

"What bell is this?" asks Riley looking at the bell in the tower.

"It's the Centennial Bell," says Bianca.

"It replaced the Liberty Bell in 1876," says Ben.

"There it is," says Abigail walking over to where the shadow is cast.

"Alright. I'm going to go down there and you 3 meet me in the Signing Room. Okay?" says Ben.

"Yeah," says Bianca.

Ben walks down some stair and goes out on the roof.

"Let's go," says Abigail to Riley and Bianca.

Bianca and Abigail start to go back down the stairs. Riley stays a little longer.

"3:22. My idea," he says to himself.

"Riley," Bianca's voice echoes from the stairs.

Riley goes to catch up with them and they head back down to the Signing Room.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ben is on the roof examining the bricks that the shadow had pointed to. One brick in particular had a Masonic symbol carved in the right hand corner. Ben pulls out a pocket knife and proceeds to dig the brick out. Once he has the brick out, he checks out the hole that is left. He feels around, but doesn't feel anything, then he looks at the brick itself. There is a part cut out of the brick. Ben dumps it over into his hand and a weird pair of spectacles fall out. He takes the spectacles and replaces the brick. Ben runs back across the roof and down the stairs, into the Signing Room, where he told Bianca, Abigail, and Riley to meet him. As he was getting there, a tour group was just leaving. 

"Ben," says Bianca when she sees him coming.

"What'd you score?" asks Riley.

The 3 walk up to Ben. He takes the spectacles out of his coat pocket and shows it to them.

"I found this. Some kind of ocular devise. The vision to see the treasured past? Let me take this," he says to Abigail taking the Declaration from her and passing the spectacles to Riley.

"They're like early American X-ray specs," Riley says carefully looking through them.

* * *

Bianca rolls her eyes. 

Ben opens the container and puts it on the window sill. He brings the Declaration over to everyone else.

"Benjamin Franklin invented something like these," says Abigail pointing to them.

"Uh, I think he invented these," says Ben.

"What do we do with them?" asks Riley.

"You look through 'em...duh," says Bianca.

Riley looks through them and looks up to the ceiling.

"Here help me," says Abigail to Riley.

"Uh-huh," he says.

Riley passes the spectacles over to Bianca and helps unroll the Declaration.

"Whoo," says Ben.

"What?" asks Riley.

"It's just...that the last time this was here, it was being signed," says Ben with a sigh, and his head in the clouds.

Abigail smiles and Bianca tries to hold back a grin.

"Ben, there's another tour coming," says Riley shaking his head.

Ben comes back to reality and clears his throat.

"Right, turn it over," he says.

"Careful," says Abigail

"Spectacles," breathes Ben.

Bianca passes him the glasses and he looks at the document.

"Oooh. Oh," says Ben looking through the glasses.

"What do you see?" ask Abigail.

"What is it? Is it a treasure map?" Riley asks excitedly.

"It says 'Heere at the Wall,' spelled with 2 E's. Here, take a look," says Ben passing the spectacles over to Abigail.

Riley tries to snatch them away from her, but only caught air.

"Oh, wow," she says looking through the lenses like Ben did.

"Why can't they just say go to this place, and here's the treasure, spend it wisely?" asks Riley.

"Because that would be too easy. Besides...where's the fun in that?" says Bianca.

"Oh shit," says Ben looking out of the window.

"Oh, no," say Abigail and Riley in unison.

Bianca looks out of the window was well.

"Oh, great," she mumbles.

Phil and Shippen, 2 of the goons from Ian's team, are walking outside.

Riley goes over to the window and pulls back the curtain a little more than it was.

"How'd they find us?" he asks.

"Ian has nearly unlimited resources...and he's smart," says Ben rolling up the Declaration with Abigail.

"Great," says Bianca, again.

"I don't think we can get out of here without being spotted," says Abigail.

"Well, we don't want them to have the Declaration or the glasses, but we especially don't want them to have them both together," says Ben putting the Declaration back in the tubes.

"So what do we do?" asks Riley.

"We separate the lock from the key. We're splitting up," says Ben looking at Abigail.

"Good idea," says Abigail.

"Really?" asks Riley.

"I'll take this and those," instructs Ben referring to the container for the Declaration and the spectacles, "You guys keep that. Meet me at the car and call me if you have any problems," he instructs to Abigail, Bianca, and Riley with the Declaration in the plastic tube.

"Can't I go with you, Ben?" asks Bianca.

"Uh, no. Stay with them. Ian'll probably come after me...I don't think you'd want to see him again so soon," says Ben.

"Fine, good point though," sighs Bianca in defeat.

"Problems? Like if we get caught and killed?" asks Riley.

"Yeah. That would be a big problem," says Ben, "Take care of her," he says just before he leaves.

"I will," say Abigail and Riley together.

"Oi," says Bianca shaking her head.

Ben walks out of Independence Hall calmly. A few seconds later, Abigail, Bianca, and Riley leave out of the same door, but going in the opposite direction.

"Let's go this way," says Abigail.

"Wait up," says Riley almost walking away from the others.

The 3 walk around the building and turn down a busy street. Shaw and Victor are a block or so behind them.

"Riley, Bianca!" says Abigail looking over her shoulder and seeing the 2.

"Time to run," says Riley starting to run.

Abigail follows, then Bianca.

"They're running too! Let's pick it up," says Bianca looking over her shoulder.

They run past a farmer's market-type place.

"In here," says Abigail opening a door and going in.

They run through a crowd of people before Abigail decides to take a turn.

"Follow me," she shouts.

Riley, who was following Abigail, went in the opposite direction. Bianca stops at the intersection, looks after Abigail, then to Riley.

"Riley!" she shouts pointing after Abigail.

Riley growls and comes back to Bianca.

"Come on," he says grabbing her hand and going in the same direction he was originally going. They run around and hide behind a flower stand.

* * *

Abigail runs around until she jumps over the counter of a meat stand and sits on the floor clutching the Declaration close to her. 

"If you're not a steak then you don't belong here," says the butcher-woman.

"I'm just trying to hide from my ex-husband," Abigail lies.

The butcher-woman looks over the counter to Shaw.

"Who? Baldy?" she asks.

"Yes," whispers Abigail.

"Honey, stay as long as you like," she says making a face.

"Oh, thank you. Thank you," mumbles Abigail with a short laugh.

Shaw comes over to the counter and slaps his hand down.

"Do you want something?" says the butcher-woman to Shaw.

Shaw keeps looking around.

"Do you want something?" she repeats.

"Shut up," says Shaw and walks off.

"I see why you left him," says the butcher-woman to Abigail.

Abigail jumps back over the counter and goes to hide behind some flowers.

* * *

Riley and Bianca keep an eye out for Abigail from their position behind the flower stand. They spot her on the opposite side of the stand and go over to her. Riley taps her on the shoulder. 

"Ah! Where were you 2?" Abigail asks them.

Riley scoffs.

"Hiding! Come on let's go," he says.

The 3 of them head out of the farmer's market and run down the street towards City Hall.

* * *

After Ben left Independence Hall, he runs across the street and is followed closely by Phil and Shippen. Ben runs into a cemetery and closes the gate behind him. He hides behind a tombstone just as Phil takes a few shots at him. Ben would have stayed behind the tombstone if it weren't for Shippen trying to shot at him from the side. Ben runs out of the cemetery and waits for Shippen to come after him, then hits him with the container and punches him. Phil comes from around a corner and starts chasing Ben. 

"Ow! Aw, come on!" Ben growls after punching him and sees Phil coming.

Ben runs again and turns to take a short cut through a property, but it's blocked by scaffolding, so he has to run on the other side of the building and goes up the scaffolding on the other side and up to the roof. Phil follows him and traps him on the roof.

"Hey Gates. Enough, man. Gimme the document," says Phil inching closer to Ben with his gun pointed at him.

"Alright, Phil," says Ben and throws the container towards the edge of the roof.

While Phil dives after it, Ben takes the opportunity to jump off the roof and on to the scaffolding to get away.

* * *

Riley, Bianca, and Abigail keep running. Abigail runs into the street, then looks behind her to find Riley and Bianca. Riley gets stuck behind some business guys and Bianca gets her foot stuck in a crack in the sidewalk, crashing into the ground, tearing a hole in her cargo pants and scrapping her knee (Amazingly, though, she still has her sunglasses on her head). 

"Damn it," she says, then looks up to see Abigail run into a messenger biker and fall to the ground and loosing the Declaration to the street.

Abigail looks up and sees a car drive right over the document. She gets up and goes after it, but a giant truck is about to hit her. Riley finally gets loose from the business guys. He runs over and pulls her out of the truck's way. They both go falling back onto the sidewalk and watch as Ian picks up the Declaration.

Ian unscrews the cap to make sure that the Declaration is actually in there. After he looks, he looks back to Riley and Abigail and nods his appreciation.

Shaw and Victor come running up and shouting. Riley and Abigail run, while Bianca struggles to get back on her feet.

"Leave them! Let 'em go. We've got it," says Ian.

He was just about to leave, when he sees Bianca hobbling along after Riley and Abigail.

"Grab _her_, though," Ian says to Shaw and Victor.

Shaw and Victor walk up behind Bianca. Bianca turns and sees them. She tries to run, but Shaw and Victor grab her arms.

"Let me go!" she shouts kicking the air.

"Sorry, can't do that," says Shaw, "And if I were you, I suggest you stop drawing attention to yourself."

Bianca stops kicking, but still stays pissed off. They move her into the back seat of a car, where Ian got in nearby. Victor pushes her in by her bandaged arm.

"Ow, hey! Watch the shoulder," she says to Victor, as she taking off her sunglasses and puts them in her pocket.

"Why?" asks Shaw duct taping her hands together.

"Because one of your damn bullets grazed my arm," she spits.

Shaw grins and stands by the door after he taped her hands.

* * *

**A/N: **_Look for another one in a few minutes! And keep those reviews coming...no flames, please (just a friendly reminder, not that I'm getting any...)._  



	19. Ben Meets Agent Sadusky

**A/N: **_Sorry if you got an e-mail update thing that has the title "Mr Patrick Gates" as the title for a new chapter. I accidentally deleted that chapter somehow, so I had to repost it. Sorry again._

* * *

"So nice to see you again, Bianca," says Ian, slyly. 

"Bite me," Bianca says through gritted teeth.

"Oh, not very friendly today, are we?" he asks her.

"Obviously," she says sarcastically and rolling her eyes.

* * *

Riley and Abigail had been running for awhile before Riley decides to turn around and look for Bianca. 

"Oh, shit! Abigail, Bianca's gone," he says stopping Abigail.

"Great...Ian must've gotten her," she says, "We have to call Ben."

"Yeah, okay," says Riley taking out his cell phone.

He dials Ben's number and Ben answers with an angry:

"What?"

"We lost it," says Riley.

"What!" Ben says with more anger.

"We lost the Declaration. Ian took it," says Riley.

Ben makes an angry movement.

"Yeah, uh, Okay. Are you alright? Are you all alright?" asks Ben.

"Uh, Abigail and I are..." Riley pauses, "Ben, Ian has Bianca. I thought she was right behind us, but when I turned around she wasn't there," he explains, "I'm sorry, Ben."

"We'll be fine. Meet me at the car and we'll figure out a way to get both the Declaration and Bianca back," says Ben hanging up the phone.

Riley hangs up his phone and he and Abigail walk to the car.

* * *

Ben gets to the car, only to be approached by some guy. 

"Hello, Mr. Gates," he says saluting Ben.

A few more guys come out of the place the car was parked in front of.

"Mr. Gates, face your father's car and put your hands behind your back, please," says the one cop.

"We got one in custody,' says some other cop into a walkie-talkie.

"Gates, you're a hard man to find," says the same guy who told him to put his hands on the car.

Ben looks down the street and sees Riley and Abigail walking up. They spot the trouble and head in the other direction.

One of the cops gets the spectacles out of Ben's pocket and throws it on the roof of the car.

"Could you please be careful?" says Ben.

The cops continue frisking him and put him in the back of one of their cars and take him to the station.

* * *

Ian, who was sitting in the front seat of the car, looks down at Bianca's knee which is now bleeding profusely. 

"I guess we should clean up that knee," Ian says.

"Fine," she says.

Ian gets out of the front seat and walks around the back of the car to Bianca's side in the back seat and opens the door.

"Slide over here," Ian says.

Bianca didn't move.

"I won't bite," says Ian grinning.

'_I_ might,' she thinks.

Bianca slides over and hangs her feet off the edge of the car. She continues eyeing Ian, however.

"Shaw, get the med kit from the trunk," Ian says kneeling down in front of Bianca.

Shaw gets the kit and hands it to Ian.

"Now, Bianca, if you even think of trying to run off or kick me...well, you get my drift," says Ian, looking up to Shaw who pulls a gun slightly out of his coat pocket.

Bianca's eyes go to Shaw's hand.

"I'm not stupid, Ian. I know you all carry guns," she says.

"Very well," says Ian, "Give me your leg."

Bianca sticks out her leg and Ian takes her foot and puts it on his knee. He carefully rolls up her pant leg so it's just above her scrape. He takes some rubbing alcohol out of the med kit and puts some on a gauze pad. He dabs the gauze on Bianca's knee. She cringes a bit at the sting the alcohol leaves. He repeats this until the bleeding has stopped. Ian grins and takes some big bandages out of the kit. He places them on Bianca's knee and wraps it in some medical tape, to keep the bandages on. Ian rolls Bianca's pant leg back down.

"Sorry about your pants. I can't exactly clean those," he says.

"Yeah, whatever," mumbles Bianca swinging her legs back into the car.

Ian picks up the med kit and puts it back in the trunk. Shaw closes the door and gets in the driver's seat. After Ian puts the med kit back, he gets into the front seat, much to Bianca's relief.

"Okay. We just have to wait for the other vehicle and we can go," says Ian keeping an eye out for the other car.

About 5 minutes go by before the SUV they were waiting for pulls up behind them.

"Alright, let's go," says Ian to Shaw.

Shaw starts the car and they drive off.

* * *

Riley and Abigail had walked away from cops and were now looking for somewhere to go. They pass a little courtyard with a fountain. 

"Come on, let"s sit in here," says Abigail.

Riley follows Abigail in and he sits on a bench. Abigail paces behind him.

"I can't believe it," says Riley.

"What?" Abigail asks.

"We lost the Declaration AND Bianca. Oh, wait _AND _Ben. I feel so guilty," he says putting his head in his hands.

"Don't worry about it. She seems like a tough girl. I'm sure she can take care of herself and we'll get the Declaration back. I have no doubt," says Abigail trying to lighten the situation. She stops pacing temporarily.

"I know she's tough, but I don't know how she can contend with Ian," says Riley.

"We'll think of something...just give me a few minutes," says Abigail pacing again.

While Abigail was pacing, Riley gets his phone out of his pocket and dials Bianca's number. He thinks there might be a slight chance she'll pick up.

* * *

Bianca's phone starts ringing and she looks to her pocket. 

"Don't even think about answering it," warns Shaw.

"Oh, yeah, like I can get it anyway," Bianca says sarcastically lifting her taped hands so Shaw can see them in the rearview mirror.

She rolls her eyes and continues to stare at her pocket until the phone stops ringing. She sighs and stares out of the window when it stops.

* * *

A few minutes later, Abigail stops pacing and places her hands on the back of the bench. 

"Riley, do you know how to get in touch with Ian?" she asks.

"Excuse me?" he says looking at her with a confused look.

"Do you know how to get in touch with Ian?" she asks slower, "You want to get the Declaration and Bianca back right?"

"Yeah," Riley says.

"Well...Do you know how to get in touch with Ian?" Abigail repeats.

Riley sighs heavily and pulls out his cell phone. He dials Ian's number and hands the phone over to Abigail.

* * *

Bianca hears another phone start to ring. Ian takes his out of his pocket. Bianca looks on curiously. 

"Hello?" he says.

"What?"

"Alright, alright."

"How do I know where to meet him?"

"Okay. Fine," Ian finishes the conversation and hangs up the phone, putting it back in his pocket.

"Now, Bianca," Ian starts turning in the seat to look at her, "Where will the next clue be?"

"I don't know," she says quietly.

"Really? Dr. Chase told me something different," he says.

Bianca sighs and looks at Ian.

"Let me think," she says looking back out of the window.

A few minutes go by.

"Well?" asks Ian.

"Okay," she sighs, "I think I have it...We go to the corner of Wall Street and Broadway. In New York."

"How do you know?" he asks.

"I'm not 100 percent sure, but Wall Street is where the path of a wall used to stand. The Dutch settlers used it to keep the British out of the country. The main gate was located at a street called Deheere, which they renamed Broadway after the British got in the country," Bianca explains.

"Excellent," says Ian turning back around in the seat, "Shaw, pull over. We need to make a phone call."

* * *

Ben has been taken to the police station and is now sitting in front of Agent Sadusky's desk with handcuffs on his wrists. Ben had just finished telling the police about the whole Declaration-stealing thing. 

"That's some story," says Sadusky placing his mug on the desk.

"Well that's the same story I tried to tell you guys before the Declaration was stolen," explains Ben brining his hands up to his face.

"By you?" asks Sadusky.

"No, by Ian. I stole it to stop him. I did it alone. Dr. Chase was not involved. And Ian still ended up with the Declaration of Independence and a good friend of mine," says Ben getting tired of the police not believing him.

"Because of you," says Sadusky.

Ben gives him a funny look.

"So here's your options. Door number one: You go to prison for a very long time. Door number 2: We are going to get back the Declaration of Independence. You help us find it, and you still go to prison for a very long time, but you feel better inside," says Sadusky giving Ben his choices.

"Is there a door that doesn't lead to prison?" asks Ben nodding his head.

Sadusky laughs.

"Someone's got to go to prison, Ben," he says.

"Yeah," says Ben looking down at the desk.

"So what are these for?" Sadusky asks picking up the spectacles.

"It's a way to read the map," explains Ben.

"Right. Knights Templar. Free Masons. Invisible treasure map. So what did it say?" asks Sadusky playing with the colored lenses as the spectacles sit on his desk.

"'Heere at the Wall'. Nothing else. Just another clue," says Ben watching Sadusky's hand.

Sadusky continues to play with the spectacles while he talks to one of the other agents.

"There's more to it," mumbles Ben noticing the highlighter on the paper in front of Sadusky change as he moves the lens.

* * *

**A/N:** _I was going sto say something here, but now I don't remember what...oh, well. Maybe I'll think of it later...  
_


	20. New York and the USS Intrepid

Just then, Ben's cell phone starts ringing. Sadusky picks it up off of the desk. The other agents get signals for their tracking devices. When everything is ready, Sadusky gives the phone to Ben.

"Yes?" says Ben answering the phone and looking at Sadusky.

Sadusky picks up a headset to listen in.

"Hello, Ben. How are you?" Ian says from the other end.

"I'm chained to a desk," Ben replies.

"Sorry to hear that. I want you to meet me on the flight deck of the USS Intrepid. You know where that is?" says Ian.

"New York."

"Meet me there at 10:00 tomorrow morning. And bring those glasses you found at Independence Hall. Yeah, I know about the glasses. Bianca told me about them. We can take a look at the Declaration and then you can be on your way," states Ian.

Ben gives a dry laugh.

"Yeah, like I'm supposed to believe that," he says.

"I told you from the start. I only wanted to borrow it. You can have it, and the glasses. I'll even throw in the pipe from the Charlotte," says Ian.

Ben looks back up at Sadusky and he nods.

"I'll be there," says Ben.

"And tell the FBI agents listening in on this call, if they want the Declaration back, and not just in a box of confetti, then you come alone," says Ian and hangs up the phone.

Ben hangs up his phone and looks at Sadusky.

"Believe me now?" Ben asks him.

"Yes, I do," says Sadusky.

* * *

They police put Ben in a holding cell for the night. Riley and Abigail take a bus to New York and stay somewhere for the night. Bianca gets to sit in the back seat of the car (that's parked somewhere in New York) with Ian and Shaw. 

She tries desperately not to fall asleep.

* * *

The next morning, the agents take the handcuffs off of Ben and give him a secret microphone and earpiece. They head up to New York in about 3 different vans. 

Sadusky and Agent Michaels sit in an unmarked van near the USS Intrepid and look at Ben through monitors. There's a helicopter hovering around the ship to keep cameras on Ben. There are also 3 agents on the deck of the ship to keep an eye on Ben.

"Gates is on the flight deck," says one of the agents on deck, looking through some binoculars.

Ben walks around the ship and starts looking around. In his earpiece, he hears Sadusky instructing his men.

"Eyes on Gates. Do not loose sight of primary mark," says Sadusky.

There's some more talking between agents.

"Gates. Stay with the program," says Sadusky to Ben.

"I hope all your agents are all under 4 feet tall and wearing little scarves," says Ben referring to the pack of Boy Scouts that just passed him, "otherwise Ian's gonna know they're here."

"As soon as he shows you the Declaration, we'll move in. Don't try anything. Just let us handle it," says Sadusky.

"You know, Agent Sadusky, something I've noticed about fishing: it never works out so well for the bait," says Ben looking around.

An unauthorized helicopter starts flying into the area. The agents try to figure out what's going on.

"Gates, are you with me?" Sadusky asks Ben.

"Well, I'm sure not against you, if that's what you're asking," says Ben walking towards the bow.

Ben's mike then gets some interference and Shaw walks up next to Ben.

"Hello, Ben," says Shaw holding a video camera and looking like a tourist, "Thomas Edison only needed one way to make a light bulb. Sound familiar?"

Ben looks at him out of the corner of his eye.

Just then the unauthorized helicopter flies really close to the deck.

"Go to the starboard observation point behind the F-16 and here's what you do. Jump overboard and a diver will be there to get you away," explains Shaw, yelling over the helicopter.

Shaw quickly gets away from Ben, signaling to the helicopter to vacate the area.

Sadusky keeps trying to get a hold of Ben through the earpiece. Ben starts walking to the F-16, which is located at the stern of the ship.

"Gates? Gates? Who's got Gates? All agents report in," Sadusky asks everyone through their earpieces, "Did Gates speak to anybody?"

"Target is moving," says the agent in the helicopter.

"He's heading towards the stern," says one of the other agents on the deck.

"I've got him. He's coming this way," says another.

"Anyone got a view of our friend Ian Howe?" asks Sadusky.

"No, Ian Howe is not at the stern, sir," an agent states.

"Then why is he heading there?" Sadusky asks.

Ben ducks underneath the tip of the F-16 and stands at the observation area.

"Sadusky. I'm still not against you. But I found door number 3 and I'm taking it," says Ben leaning on the railing.

"Move in! Move in on Gates!" instructs Sadusky.

Ben hears this and jumps over the side of the Intrepid and into the Hudson River. Ben looks around in the murky water until someone grabs his leg. The diver gives him air supply and they grab onto a rocket looking thing and zoom through the water. Ben and the diver reach the surface far away from the Intrepid. They swim over to a ladder and Ben climbs it.

"Hello, Ben. Welcome to New Jersey," says Shaw when Ben gets to the top.

They walk into an empty parking garage and find 2 others standing by a car. Shippen goes into the trunk.

"What did you do with Abigail and Riley? And where's Bianca?" Ben asks.

"Hope these fit," says Shippen handing Ben some dry clothes and closing the trunk.

"I said what did you do with Abigail, Riley and Bianca? Bianca and Riley are the only ones who could have told you that line about Edison," says Ben getting angry.

"Did you bring the glasses?" Shaw asks.

"I don't know, tell me what's happening here," demands Ben.

"Ask your girlfriend. She's the one calling all the shots now. She won't shut up," says Shaw opening the door to the car.

Ben grins and changes into the clothes that Shippen gave him. Ben jumps into the backseat and sits in between Shaw and Shippen. Phil is driving and when everyone gets in, they drive to meet Ian.

* * *

Bianca is sitting in the car with Ian at the corner of Wall Street and Broadway. The SUV is parked across the street. Ian had sent Shaw to go somewhere to get someone or something. Bianca wasn't quite sure what. Ian gets out of the car and walks to the other side and opens Bianca's door. 

"Come on. We have to move you out of this car," says Ian looking around.

Bianca slides over to the edge of the car and stands up. Her ankle cracks as soon as she stands up and almost falls over, but Ian catches her.

"Take it easy," he says, grinning.

Bianca rolls her eyes.

Ian puts a coat over Bianca's taped hands so no one sees and leads her across the street to the SUV.

Victor was sitting in the front and waiting for Ian to come over. He gets out of the car and opens the passenger's side door.

Ian takes the coat off of Bianca's hands.

"Get in," he says.

Bianca gets in, no questions asked. Victor shuts the door and Ian goes back over to the car. Bianca sighs and stares down at her hands.

"Bianca?" says a voice behind her.

She turns around in the seat.

"Mr. Gates? W-what are you doing here?" she asks.

"I've actually been kidnapped this time," he says.

"Yeah, me too," says Bianca laughing slightly and holding up her tapped hands.

"How'd he get you?" asks Patrick.

"Riley, Dr. Chase, and I were running from Shaw and Victor. I took a tumble and they went without me," She explains shrugging, "You?"

"I'm Ben's father. Need any more explained?" Patrick asks.

"No, that's enough," says Bianca, grinning slightly.

The window was opened slightly and Victor heard them talking. He turns to the window.

"Shut up," he says to Bianca.

"No," she says forcefully.

Victor pulls a gun slightly out of his pocket.

"How 'bout now?" he asks her.

"Okay," she says gulping.

She turns back in the seat and waits.

* * *

Abigail and Riley are hiding out in an internet café across from where Ian is pacing near the car. They had just arrived there so they didn't see Bianca change cars. 

Abigail takes out a cell phone and calls Shaw's phone.

"Hello?" says Shaw on the other end.

"Ben please," says Abigail.

Shaw passes the phone over the Ben.

"Hi, sweetie. How's your day going?" Abigail asks Ben.

"Interesting dear. So what, you're working with Ian now?" asks Ben.

"Turns out helping someone escape from FBI custody is a criminal act. He's the only criminal we knew, so we called him and made him a deal," explains Abigail.

"You're...you're alright yeah? I mean you're safe?" Ben asks hesitantly.

"Yeah, we both are. We haven't seen Bianca yet, though, but Riley's here doing something clever with a computer," she says walking over to Riley.

"I'm tracking him through the...hey!" Riley says as Abigail puts the phone to his ear, "I'm tracking you through the GPS in Shaw's Phone. They take a turn anywhere we don't want and we'll know it," Abigail starts to take the phone away from his ear, "So don't worry," he mumbles.

"If Ian tries to double cross us, we can call the FBI and tell them right where you are. And where to find Ian," explains Abigail looking out the window towards Ian.

"And where's that?" asks Ben.

"Right across the street from where we're hiding. At the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway," says Abigail.

"Well, you figured out the clue," says Ben enthusiastically.

"Simple. 'Heere at the Wall'. Wall Street and Broadway. Bianca figured it out too, or else Ian wouldn't even be here. Ben, there is a catch. We made Ian believe that he could have the treasure. It was the only way we could get this far," says Abigail solemnly.

"He's here," says Riley.

Abigail hangs up the phone and watches from their position.

* * *

**A/N: **_So there was some more creepy Ian in this chapter...not as much as before, but could still be classified as creepy (in my book anyway)._  



	21. Trinity Church

Ben hangs up the phone and hands it back to Shaw. They get Ben out of the car and Ian walks over to him.

"Ben. You alright? No broken bones? A jump like that could kill a man," says Ian.

"Naw, it was cool. You should try it sometime," says Ben.

Ian laughs and places the Declaration and the meerschaum pipe on the roof of the car.

"The Declaration of Independence and the meerschaum pipe. All yours," says Ian.

"That's it?" asks Ben thinking there's got to be some sort of catch.

"That's it. I knew you'd keep your promise. Now where is it? Where's my treasure?" Ian asks.

"It's right here," says Ben pointing to the street signs, "The map said Heere at the Wall spelled with 2 E's. Wall Street follows the path of an actual wall that the Dutch settlers built as a defense to keep the British out. The main gate was located at a street called De Heere, also with 2 E's. Later De Heere Street was renamed Broadway after the British got in. So, Heere at the Wall. Broadway, Wall Street. Cheerio!" finishes Ben in an English accent.

Ben takes the Declaration and the pipe off the roof of the car and starts to walk away.

"Just a moment Ben. That's pretty close to what Bianca told me," says Ian resting his hand on the car.

"Bianca? Where is she? Ian, if you break our deal the FBI will be only a few minutes behind you. You might get away, you might not," says Ben turning to face him.

"Is that all the map said?" Ian asks stepping closer to Ben.

"Every word," Ben says hesitantly.

"Oh, Ben," Ian says grinning, "You know the key to running a convincing bluff? Every once in a while, you've got to be holding all the cards."

Ian looks over to an SUV and Ben follows his gaze. Victor opens the door to the back seat and Patrick leans forward, so he can see Ben.

"Dad," mumbles Ben.

He turns back to Ian and is about to say something, but Ian cuts him off.

"There's more," he says looking back to the SUV.

The passenger's side door opens and Bianca gets out, standing right next to Victor also with her hands taped. She looks like she hasn't slept for days.

"Is there anything else you want to tell me?" Ian asks again.

Ben turns to face Ian again.

"Trinity Church. We have to go inside Trinity Church," says Ben.

"Good. Excellent," says Ian looking up at the church, "Well, why don't you ask Dr. Chase and Riley to join us? I'm sure they're around here somewhere," says Ian looking around inconspicuously.

Ian motions to Victor to bring Bianca and Patrick into the church. They walk inside and towards the front of the church. Victor's place is taken over by Phil and Victor turns to go back out onto the street.

* * *

"Are you alright?" Ben asks his father quietly.

"What do you think? I'm a hostage," Patrick says.

Ben shakes his head then looks to Bianca who is hobbling behind Patrick.

"Are you okay?" Ben asks her looking at her knee.

"Yeah, fine. 'Tis but a scratch," she replies with a forced smile.

Shaw and Phil push Bianca and Patrick into a pew.

"Sit. Sit down," says Shaw to Patrick and Bianca.

Once they sit down, Shaw takes the tape off of their hands.

"Let them go, Ian," Ben pleads with Ian a few rows ahead of Bianca and Patrick.

"When we find the treasure," Ian says.

"No now! Or you can figure out the clues for yourself. Good luck," says Ben jabbing Ian's chest with the case the spectacles are in.

"Ben, I don't think you fully appreciate the gravity of this situation," Ian says looking to the back of the church.

Ben and Bianca turn to look. Riley and Abigail walk in followed by Victor and Shippen. They are forced to sit towards the back of the church. Ben and Bianca look back at Ian.

"Let's have a look at that map," says Ian going to sit down.

While Ben and Ian get the Declaration out, Bianca takes another look back to Riley and Abigail. Riley mouths an 'okay?' to her. She nods and smiles weakly, then turns back to Ben and Ian.

Ben puts the glasses on and lifts the colored lenses, revealing more to the map. When he lifts the red and blue lenses, they reveal _Parkington Lane_ on the map. When he replaces the red and blue lenses and lifts the green one, _Beneath_ appears above _Parkington._

"Well. It's...it's really quite something. It's uh...It really is remarkable. Take a look," says Ben handing the glasses over to Ian.

Ian flips the colored lenses as well.

"_Parkington Lane_," says Ian.

"_Beneath Parkington Lane_," corrects Ben.

Ian takes off the glasses.

"But why would the map lead us here, then take us somewhere else? What's the purpose?" he asks.

"Just another clue," says Patrick from behind them.

"Dad," Ben yells back to him. Patrick puts his hand up to signal that he'll shut up, "No, you're right. Parkington Lane has to be here somewhere," says Ben looking around the church.

"A street inside the church," says Ian.

"Not inside. Beneath," says Bianca from behind them.

Ben and Ian turn to look at her.

"What?" she asks narrowing her eyes.

"Right, beneath the church," says Ben.

Ian and Ben roll up the Declaration and place it back in the plastic tube. Ian motions for Shippen and Victor to bring Riley and Abigail towards them. He also motions for Patrick and Bianca to follow. They walk towards the side of the church to find the door that leads to the basement and further.

Shaw opens the door and lets Ian go down first. He's followed by Riley who keeps trying to swat Victor's hand off of his shoulder. Then Victor follows him, then Bianca. Ben stands by the door and waits for Abigail.

"I'm so sorry," she says to him.

"None of this was your fault," Ben says back.

"Come on," says Phil walking up to them.

Patrick follows Phil, then Ben, then Shippen.

They go down some stairs and into a boiler room. Everyone splits up and goes in different directions.

Bianca follows Riley. Riley looks around to make sure no one is looking in their direction. He stops, turns around, and gives Bianca a rib breaking hug. Bianca is taken aback by his quick movements.

"What was that for?" she whispers to him after he pulls away.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to leave you behind. I thought you were right behind us," Riley rambles quietly.

Bianca puts her hands on his shoulders and looks him in the eye.

"Riley, it's alright. I'm fine. Nothing happened...Ian even cleaned up the wound," she says smiling and calming him down and also showing him her knee.

"Okay...okay," he says taking a deep breath.

"Alright. Let's look for Parkington Lane," suggests Bianca.

* * *

Patrick stops Ben to talk to him in hushed tones.

"Look. Cooperation only lasts as long as the status quo is unchanged. As soon as this guy gets to wherever this thing ends, he won't need you anymore. Or...or any of us," says Patrick.

"So we find a way to make sure the status quo changes in our favor," says Ben.

"How?" asks Patrick.

"I'm still working on it," says Ben.

"Well, I guess I better work on it too, then," says Patrick.

* * *

**A/N: **_So there's another chapter for ya...I'll have another one soon_


	22. Down the Tunnel

Bianca and Riley look at the wall where people have been buried. Bianca looks at one in particular.

"Masonic symbols," she mumbles, tilting her head to the side.

Riley comes over and reads the tombstone.

"Hey! Par...Hey, we found it! Him," shouts Riley to everyone else.

Ian comes over and calls Ben over to look at it.

"It's a name," says Ian.

Ben runs his hand over the tombstone.

"Parkington Lane. He was a third-degree master mason of the Blue Light..." Ben starts to say. (**A/N:**_ I actually know what that means! My dad's a Mason. Go me! does happy dance_)

Ben didn't notice Ian nod to Victor, who comes over with a big wrench ready to hit out the tombstone.

"Hey! Stop!" Ben yells to him, but he just bashes it anyway.

Everyone backs up a few steps.

Shaw goes in and pulls out the casket. Ian, Shippen, Phil, Victor, Shaw, and Ben all help get the casket out onto the floor. While holding it up, the bottom breaks and Mr. Lane's skeleton drops to the floor. A bunch of "Whoa's" and "Oh's" come from everyone.

"Careful no one steps in him," says Shippen.

They lower the rest of the casket onto him carefully.

Everyone then crowds in front of the open tomb to look in. Shaw shines a flashlight into it.

"Okay. Who wants to go down the creepy tunnel inside the tomb first?" Riley asks to no one in particular.

"Right. Phil, Victor, you stay here. And if anyone should come out without me...well, use your imagination," Ian says looking at the 2, "Shall we?" he asks Ben.

Ben takes a flashlight and crawls inside. Ian follows.

Ben gets to the end of crawling and picks up a torch.

"Got a light?" he asks Ian.

Ian takes a lighter out of his pocket and lights the torch. Everyone else filters in.

Ben walks around, then goes down some stairs. There is a piece of wood that had fallen onto the path. Ben steps over it and helps everyone else.

"Careful," he says to Ian.

"Watch your step," he says to Patrick.

He helps Riley over, who pats Ben on the shoulder. Ben grabs Bianca's elbow as she tries her best to bend her leg to get over the wood. She winces in the process, but gets over and flashes Ben a grin. Abigail follows her. Bianca starts to follow everyone else, but looked back at just the right moment. When Abigail was over the wood, Ben pulls her back.

"Come here," he says pulling her close to him and kissing her.

Abigail pulls back smiling and Bianca ducks away grinning before they noticed.

Ben follows them and Shippen brings up the end.

"Why does that never happen to me?" Bianca heard him ask himself. She tries to stifle a laugh.

They keep walking down the tunnel and down some stairs. Ian reaches a wider area.

"What's this?" he asks.

They step over a hole in the flooring and get to a look out area.

"It's a chandelier," says Ben walking forward.

He lights it with the torch exposing the cobweb covered area. He passes the torch over to Ian and Riley helps Ben push the chandelier out with a rope. The chandelier reveals a shaft with a winding staircase that leads down REALLY far.

"Wow," Riley says.

"Look at the elevators," says Ben.

"A dumbwaiter system," says Patrick.

"How do a bunch of guys with hand tools build all this?" asks Shippen looking everywhere.

"The same way they built the pyramids. And the Great Wall of China," says Ben.

"Yeah, the aliens helped them," says Riley looking down.

Bianca rolls her eyes and grins.

"Right. Let's go. What are we waiting for?" Ian asks.

Shippen hands Patrick a torch, signaling for him to go first.

"I'm not going out on that thing. 200 years of termite damage and rot," Patrick says taking the torch.

"Dad, do what he says," says Ben calmly.

Patrick takes cautious steps every time he moves to ensure safe footing. Everyone follows him. He kicks down a loose board.

"Watch your step," he says, "We're right under the Trinity Graveyard. That's probably why no one ever found this," he continues after going down some more steps.

Riley stops a few feet behind everyone else and puts a hand on the railing. When he looks back down at his hand, there are cockroaches crawling on it. He sort of squeals and flings his hand in the air to shake them loose.

He shudders and runs to catch up, pushing Abigail to the side to get in front of her.

Bianca and Abigail start laughing at him.

Riley shudders again.

There is a rumbling from above them and some dirt comes loose from the walls and ceiling. Abigail and Bianca stop laughing and everyone stops walking.

"What is that?" asks Riley.

Everyone looks above them.

"Subway," says Ian once the rumbling faded.

Ben nods and they continue on.

Shaw takes a step off of the last stair and goes through the wood. He falls...never to return.

"Shaw! Oh, god, Shaw!" Ian yells, but it's no good.

Ian stands with his mouth hanging open and looking at Ben. Abigail and Bianca both clap a hand to their mouths in shock.

The rest of the walkway starts to crumble underneath their feet. Riley jumps from where he was to a walkway below. The part of the stairs that Bianca and Ben were on start to fall, so Bianca jumps over to where Riley is. Unfortunately, she landed on her bad leg and crashed into the wooden walkway, knocking herself unconscious. (**A/N: **_She's not very graceful, is she? Eh, nobody's perfect._) Ian makes Shippen jump onto an elevator and Abigail grabs Ben's hand and pulls him up. They move onto one of the elevators. Patrick throws the torch to Shippen who catches it. Patrick and Ian are still on the walkway and it is rapidly starting to crumble. Patrick jumps onto the elevator and Ian jumps just in time right after him. Ian almost looses his footing, but Shippen grabs him and keeps him on. Ben tries to pass the Declaration to Riley from where he and Abigail were on the elevator. Before Riley could grab it, the rope to the elevator snaps and they go down until the rope gets caught and stops them, but breaks off the one side. Ben manages to hang on to part of the elevator, but Abigail sides towards the edge. Ben grabs her hand and holds on.

"Get down there! Get down there!" Patrick says to Shippen, who tries to lower their elevator.

Ben and Abigail are swinging on their broken elevator and the Declaration got loose from Ben's grasp. It rolls over to the edge.

"The Declaration," Abigail says quietly.

"Do you trust me?" Ben asks her.

"Yes," she says instantly.

They swing towards the walls and Ben lets go of Abigail. She hits a part of the ledge that was sticking out and Ben grabs the Declaration just as it was about to go over the edge. He slings it over his shoulder. Another part of the floor to the elevator breaks and Ben almost falls off. He grabs on to the last board he could. The nails slowly start to come out of the board. Ben rolls his eyes and keeps hanging on. The nails are almost out, when a rope falls next to him. He grabs it and looks up to see Patrick holding the rope. Ben swings on the rope over to a safe place and gets over the railing. Abigail walks towards him.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I dropped you. I had to save the Declaration," Ben says to her.

"No, don't be. I would have done exactly the same thing to you," she says.

"Really?" he asks her, not really believing what she just said.

Abigail nods.

"I would have dropped you both. Freaks," says Riley from his kneeling position next to Bianca, "Ben, you might want to get up here."

"Why? What happened?" he asks.

"It's Bianca," Riley says simply.

"Oh, no," says Ben and runs up the stairs to them, "What did she do?"

"She jumped right after me and I guess she landed wrong. She hit her head when she fell," Riley explains.

Ben looks from Riley to Bianca, who is laying on the walkway, face down.

Ben puts a hand on her back and gently shakes her.

"Bianca," he says quietly.

She starts to move. She squeezes her eyes tighter and then opens them. She picks up her head and looks around. She continues to sit the rest of the way up.

"Oww," she says reaching for her head, "What happened?" she asks looking from Ben to Riley.

"You lost your footing when you jumped and hit your head," says Riley, "And you missed all the action, too."

"Damn, I always miss something," she says smiling and taking her hand away from her head.

She looks down at her hand and sees the blood. She has a gash right above her right eyebrow.

"Are you alright?" Ben asks her seriously.

"Yeah, fine," she says touching her head again.

Ben and Riley help her to her feet and walk her down the stairs to where Abigail was standing.

Shippen lowers the elevator with Patrick and Ian on it. They get to the level Ben, Abigail, Riley, and Bianca were on.

"Get on," Ian demands.

"Ian...it's not worth it," says Ben.

"Do you imagine any one of your lives is more valuable to me than Shaw's? We go on," he says.

"The status quo. Keep the status quo," says Patrick to Ben.

Ben nods his head.

* * *

**A/N:** _Ha! I hope my descriptions were all right...I know they're not the greatest, but you get it right? Oh, and remember, people, I didn't post the first four chapters, so if there's anything wrong, that's not my fault, but maybe I'll go back and change them some day..._


	23. The False Clue and Treasure?

**A/N: **_Sorry this took so long...I was lazy...and college is being stressful at the moment._

**Disclaimer: **_See previous chapters..._

_

* * *

_  
The 4 get on the elevator and Shippen lowers it until they reach a point where the landing is wider than it has been.

"Now what?" asks Riley.

"This is...This is where it all leads," says Patrick.

Ben tosses a rope over to a peg to pull the elevator closer to the landing.

Ben takes a torch from Abigail and walks off of the elevator.

"Okay, let's go," he says.

Ben walks through a tunnel full of cobwebs and lights the torches at the other end of it. They all walk into a round room that has, what looks like, windows that have been cemented up. They walk around and have a look. Patrick lights the lantern in the middle of the room.

"What is this?" asks Riley.

"So where's the treasure?" Shippen asks Ben.

Ben looks around.

"Well?" provokes Ian.

"This is it? We came all this way for a dead end?" Riley asks raising his voice.

"Yes," says Ben calmly.

Ian gives a disbelieving laugh and runs a hand through his hair.

"There's got to be something more," says Riley.

"Riley, there's nothing more," Ben says to him.

"Another clue, or..." Riley starts to say.

"No, there are no more clues! That's it, okay! It's over! End of the road. The treasure's gone. Moved. Taken somewhere else," Ben shouts at him.

Riley looks like he could throw up.

"You're not playing games with me, are you, Ben? Hm?" Ian asks, "You know where it is."

"No," says Ben simply.

Ian looks back to Shippen.

"Okay, go," Ian says to him.

Ian and Shippen start to leave the room and go back to the elevator.

"Hey. Wait a minute," says Ben following them.

Everyone else follows Ben with shouts of "Wait" and "Ian."

Ian takes the rope off of the peg that was holding it in place and Shippen starts to raise the elevator.

"Don't do this," says Ben.

"Ian, no," says Bianca quietly.

"You can't leave us here," says Abigail.

"Yes I can. Unless Ben tells me the next clue," says Ian from his spot on the elevator.

"There isn't another clue," Ben stresses to him.

"Ian, listen. Why don't you come back down here and we can talk through this together," Riley says.

Ben tries to shut him up by patting his shoulder.

Ian pulls out a gun and points it right at Riley. Bianca grabs Riley's wrist and squeezes it, while still looking at Ian. Riley tries to take a glance at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Don't speak again," says Ian pointing the gun.

"Okay," says Riley quietly.

"The clue. Where's the treasure?" Ian pauses, "Ben?" he asks pointing the gun at Ben now.

When Ben doesn't answer right away, Ian cocks the gun.

"The lantern," says Patrick quickly.

"Dad..." Ben says to him.

"The status quo has changed, son," he says.

"Don't..." Ben pleads with his father.

Patrick ignores Ben and turns to talk to Ian. Ian lowers the gun.

"It's part of Freemason teachings. In King Solomon's temple there was a winding staircase. It signified the journey that had to be made to find the light of truth. The lantern is the clue," explains Patrick.

"And what does it mean?" Ian asks.

"Boston. It's Boston," says Ben sheepishly.

"The old North Church in Boston where Thomas Newton hung a lantern in the steeple to signal Paul Revere that the British were coming. One if by land, 2 if by sea. One lantern. Under the winding staircase of the steeple, that's where we have to look," says Patrick.

"Thank you," says Ian like he really meant it, but probably doesn't.

"Hey, you have to take us with you," says Patrick.

"Why? So you can escape in Boston? Besides with you out of the picture there's less baggage to carry," says Ian.

"What if we lied?" asks Patrick.

"Did you?" Ian asks pointing the gun at him.

"What if there's another clue?" asks Ben.

"Then I'll know right where to find you," says Ian, "See you, Ben."

Shippen raises the elevator.

"No!" Ben shouts up to them.

"There's no other way out!" shouts Riley.

"Ian, come back," says Abigail.

They disappear.

"Shit," Bianca whispers.

"We're all gonna die," says Riley.

Bianca lets go of his wrist and looks at him.

"It's gonna be okay, Riley...I'm sorry I yelled at you," says Ben walking back into the room.

"It's okay, kiddo," says Patrick as he follows Ben back in.

Abigail and Bianca walk into the room after Ben and Patrick.

"Okay, boys, what's going on? The British came by sea. It was 2 lanterns, not 1," Abigail says.

"Ian needed another clue. So we gave it to him," says Patrick as he and Ben look around for something.

"It was a fake. It was a fake clue," says Riley, now coming into the room and standing next to Bianca.

Ben feels something on one of the walls.

"The All-Seeing Eye. Through the All-Seeing Eye," he mumbles and knocks lightly on the wall.

"That means...by the time Ian figures it out, we'll still be trapped, and he'll shoot us then. Either way we're gonna...die," Riley says getting quieter with each phrase.

"Nobody's gonna die. There's another way out," says Ben looking at Riley."

"Where?" Riley asks.

"Through the treasure room," says Ben.

He presses a button near the wall he was looking at. A part of the wall breaks away from the rest of the wall. Ben hands Riley his torch and Patrick hands his to Abigail. Patrick and Ben push on the wall and slide the piece of wall over. Ben gets his torch back from Riley and goes into the new room. Patrick takes his torch back and upon entering the room, he lights the torches that hang on the walls.

Ben walks into the center of the practically empty room. The only things that are left are broken pieces of pottery and other things that have no value.

"Looks like someone got here first," says Riley looking around.

"Damn it," whispers Bianca.

"I'm sorry, Ben," says Abigail from behind him.

"It's gone," Ben says sadly looking at his father.

"Listen Ben..." Patrick starts to say.

Riley moves to sit near the entryway.

"It may have even been gone before Charles Carroll told the story to Thomas Gates," says Ben.

"It doesn't matter," says Patrick.

"I know. 'Cause you were right," Ben says to Patrick.

"No, I wasn't right. This room is real, Ben. And that means the treasure is real. You're in the company of some of the most brilliant minds in history because you found what they left behind for you to find and understood the meaning of it. You did it Ben. For all of us. Your grandfather, and all of us. And I've never been so happy to be proven wrong," says Patrick sincerely.

Bianca grins knowing that this is a big step for Patrick to admit that he is wrong.

"I just...really thought I was going to find the treasure," says Ben, moving to take a seat at a part in the wall.

"Okay, then we just keep looking for it," says Patrick walking closer to Ben.

Bianca and Abigail look at each other.

"I'm in," they say at the same time.

Ben looks at them and back to his father.

"Okay," says Ben.

"Not to be Johnny Rain Cloud here, but that's not gonna happen. Because as far as I can see, we're still trapped down here. Now, Ben, where's this other way out?" Riley asks.

"Well, that's it. It doesn't make any sense, the first thing the builders would have done after getting down here was to cut a secondary shaft back out for air..." explains Ben.

"Right," says Patrick.

"...and in case of cave-ins," Ben finishes.

Everyone moves around the room looking for anything that would give them a hint of where to go.

* * *

**A/N:**_ I have an ice hockey tournament this weekend, so I won't be able to update more...until I get back. Maybe Sunday night, if I'm lucky._  



	24. Real Treasure and a Bargaining Chip

**A/N: **_Sorry it took me a while to get this out for ya'll. I got really lazy._

_If anyone was_ _wondering, my hockey team got thrid place...out of four teams. We won the first game, and lost the next two...I did score a goal and amlost busted my knee cap. But hey! Free beer and hats!_

_

* * *

_  
Bianca goes over to a wall that has 4 circular symbols.

"Ben," she says and Ben comes over to her, "Take a look at this."

Ben hands the torch over to Abigail and touches the one circle that looks vaguely familiar.

"Could it really be that simple?" he asks himself taking the meerschaum pipe out of his pocket.

"The secret lies with Charlotte," says Bianca quietly.

Ben places the pipe itself in the carved out portion of the wall and puts the stem in the little spot below it and rotates the circle counterclockwise until it clicks into place. He then pushes the circle and a big gust of wind goes by everyone. On the opposite side of the room, a door way opens.

Riley slowly stands up and joins everyone else. Abigail breathes deeply and puts her hand on Ben's arm. Patrick walks over to the door and goes in. Bianca follows him. Riley goes in after Bianca, then Abigail, and Ben comes in last.

They look around the treasure room in disbelief. There are golden statues, pieces of gold, anything of value is everywhere.

Abigail walks over to some parchment that is stacked on a shelf.

"Scrolls from the Library of Alexandria. Could this be possible?" she says to herself.

Patrick walks around and finds a suit of armor and a medallion of the unfinished pyramid and the all-seeing eye.

Bianca grins at Ben and pats him on the back, then walks in Riley's direction.

Riley walks over to a big statue.

"It's a big...bluish-green man, with a strange-looking goatee. I'm guessing that's significant," he says and hugs the statue.

Bianca starts laughing at him and pats him on the back.

Ben walks over to the middle of the room to a podium-looking thing. He picks up what is on top and lets it run through his fingers. Realizing that it is some sort of gunpowder, he lights it and watches the flames start to light up more to the room than they had thought.

The flame starts burning on a specific trail and goes down some stairs and expands to about a football field's length, exposing more treasure than they could believe.

The 5 of them walk over to a balcony-type thing and look out over everything in awe. Riley walks up next to Bianca and holds her hand. She looks down at their hands, then looks up to Riley and smiles.

Ben looks at his father.

"Yes!" shouts Patrick clapping a hand on Ben's shoulder.

Abigail takes a glance at Riley.

"Riley, are you crying?" she asks him.

"Look...stairs," he says looking at the far end of the room.

Bianca laughs and gives him a hug.

"Let's go," says Ben still in awe.

They all walk down the stairs to get to the other end of the room. They walk slowly so they don't miss anything, then carefully go up the stairs. The stairs lead to a tunnel much like the one they used to go down in.

* * *

Ben pushes through the thing blocking their way. It turns out that it was another tombstone back in the boiler room. Ben coughs a bit and notices a custodian sitting on the floor next to Parkington Lane. 

"Hi. Do you have a cell phone I could borrow?" Ben asks him.

The guy looks scared out of his wits, but nods and hands Ben his phone.

Ben crawls the rest of the way out of the tunnel and helps everyone else out. Once they're all out Ben dials a number in the phone.

"Agent Sadusky, please," he says when someone on the other line picks up.

"Sadusky? Ben Gates. You want the Declaration back? Meet me at Trinity Church," Ben says.

He waits for an answer and hangs up the phone.

Ben hands the phone back to the custodian.

"Now, we wait," says Ben.

"Great, but could we wait somewhere besides the boiler room?" Bianca asks.

"I wasn't planning on staying down here," says Ben.

He goes back up the stairs that lead into the church and they sit near the alter. Bianca sits down next to Ben with difficulty because of her knee and Abigail sits on his other side.

"Way to go, Ben. Way to go," Bianca says patting him on the shoulder.

Riley sits down on Bianca's other side and puts an arm over her shoulders. She grins at him and lets her head fall onto his shoulder. Riley puts his head on top of hers.

Abigail and Ben end up doing the same thing. Patrick just looks at the 4 grinning.

About 10 minutes go by before anyone moves. Patrick, Abigail, Bianca, and Riley get up from their places by the alter and walk into the pews at the middle of the church. Just as they were sitting down, Sadusky and a few agents enter from the back. 3 of them surround Patrick, Abigail, Bianca, and Riley, while Sadusky himself walks up to Ben. Bianca takes a hold of Riley's hand and laces her fingers with his.

Ben stands up to greet Sadusky.

"Just like that?" Sadusky asks as Ben hands him the Declaration.

"Just like that," says Ben.

"You do know you just handed me your biggest bargaining chip," says Sadusky.

"The Declaration of Independence is not a bargaining chip. Not to me," says Ben.

"Have a seat," says Sadusky, sitting near the alter with Ben, "So what's your offer?"

"Oh...how about a bribe? Say, uh...10 billion dollars?" asks Ben.

"I take it you found the treasure?" asks Sadusky.

"It's about 5 stories beneath your shoes," says Ben looking to Sadusky's feet.

"You know the Templars and the Free Masons believed that the treasure was too great for any one man to have, not even a king. That's why they went to such length to keep it hidden," says Sadusky.

As he talks, Ben notices the Masonic ring on Sadusky's pinky finger.

"That's right. The founding fathers believed the same thing about government. I figure their solution will work for the treasure, too," says Ben.

"Give it to the people," says Sadusky trying to figure Ben out.

"Divide it among the Smithsonian, the Louvre, the Cairo Museum...there's thousands of years of world history down there, and it belongs to the world, and everybody in it," says Ben.

"You really don't understand the concept of a bargaining chip," says Sadusky.

Abigail, Patrick, Bianca, and Riley start laughing silently.

"Okay, here's what I want," Ben starts, "Dr. Chase gets off completely clean, not even a little post-it on her service record."

"Okay," says Sadusky nodding.

"I want the credit for the find to go to the entire Gates family with the assistance of Mr. Riley Poole and Miss Bianca Lewis," says Ben looking in the direction of Riley and Bianca. Bianca smiles to Ben, then Riley, and then looks to Patrick and sees him sitting proud and looking at his son.

"And what about you?" Sadusky asks.

"I really would love not to go to prison. I can't even begin to describe how much I would love to not go to prison," says Ben to Sadusky.

The 4 silently laugh again.

"Someone's got to go to prison, Ben," says Sadusky.

"Well, if you've got a helicopter, I think I help with that," says Ben.

"Okay," says Sadusky, "Where to?"

Ben looks at the 4. Bianca gives him a 'go-ahead-tell-him' nod. Ben looks back at Sadusky.

"Boston," Ben says simply.

"Hmm," mumbles Sadusky, "Is it just going to be you, or will some one else be going?" he asks Ben.

Ben was about to say something, but looks to Bianca.

"Bianca. She'll be going also," says Ben.

Bianca forms a sly grin and nods to him.

"Alright, let's get a move on," says Sadusky, "The other 3 can leave."

"Where are we supposed to go?" Riley asks.

Sadusky thinks for a minute.

"We'll set you up in a hotel here for the night, but tomorrow you head back to D.C.," says Sadusky.

"Ooh, okay," says Riley as his eyes get big.

Bianca laughs at him and lets go of his hand to go with Ben. Riley stands up along with Abigail. They both walk over to Ben and Bianca. Abigail gives Ben a big kiss and Bianca gives Riley a big hug.

"I'll find you when we come back, so wait up for me," Bianca whispers to Riley and kisses him on the cheek.

Riley can only nod.

* * *

**A/N:** _Awww...Bianca and Riley are cute..._  



	25. The Morning After

**A/N: **_Wow, another one for yous guys...expect another one today, also._

_Here's where I drifted away from the movie ('cause it was the end), so everything is coming out of my own twisted mind... _

_

* * *

_Ben and Bianca leave the church with Sadusky and get to a helicopter. They fly to Boston and have agents set up around the old North Church, where Patrick had told Ian the next clue was. Ben and Bianca hide in the shadows of someone's front porch across the street from the Church.

Around midnight, Ian and his group started to break into the Church. First by the gate, then Phil tries to pick the lock. As soon as he does, police cars and agents come out and put them all under arrest. Ian is thrown to a nearby car and Sadusky comes over to him.

"You're under arrest Mr. Howe. We've got you on kidnapping, attempted murder...and trespassing on government property," Sadusky says, while an agent handcuffs Ian.

Ian lets out a little laugh and looks across the street. Ben and Bianca step out of the shadows. Ben shrugs and Bianca waves at him, grinning. The police put Ian in the back of one of their squad cars and drives off. Bianca starts cracking up and gives Ben a high-five. Ben looks at her funny.

"What? You have to admit he deserves it," says Bianca.

"Yeah, but I don't understand why you're laughing so much," says Ben.

"I haven't gotten sleep since...the last time I saw you in Philly," she says jumping around and laughing still, "I didn't want to fall asleep anywhere near Ian."

"Good for you. I wouldn't have done it either, but when we get back on the helicopter, try to get some sleep," instructs Ben.

"I'll try," she says and she stops jumping.

"Ben. Bianca," Sadusky calls to them from across the street.

They cross the street and walk over to Sadusky.

"Yes?" asks Bianca still hyper.

"We can leave now," says Sadusky staring at Bianca like Ben did.

"Sorry, I'm running on...uh, not a lot of sleep," says Bianca, "I haven't slept since we left Philadelphia and..."

Ben puts his hand over Bianca's mouth to shut her up.

"Sorry about her," says Ben.

Bianca rolls her eyes and stops moving. Ben removes his hand.

"Better?" he asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine," replies Bianca, "Let's go."

Bianca, Ben, and Sadusky get into a car and drive to get back to the helicopter. Once on the chopper, Bianca goes right to sleep and Ben soon follows her example.

* * *

Back in New York, Riley, Abigail, and Patrick were getting settled in for the night in their presidential suite in a nice hotel. The FBI got it for them for the night and Bianca and Ben get to share in the spoils when they get back. 

Riley immediately takes up residence on the couch. Patrick gets the master bedroom and Abigail takes the other room.

They all stay awake until Ben and Bianca get back.

* * *

The helicopter lands at about 2:30 in the morning and Sadusky, Ben, and Bianca get out and head to a car that is waiting nearby. They get in (Ben and Bianca in the back and Sadusky is up front with the driver) and the car drives them to a very swanky hotel. 

Bianca looks out of the window and up the side of the building.

"This is where we're staying?" she asks.

"Yup. Hope you all enjoy it. The other 3 have already gotten their room and I hear they are waiting for you," says Sadusky.

"Thank you, sir," says Ben smiling and shaking Sadusky's hand from his seat in the back of the car.

"It's better than prison, isn't it?" asks Sadusky.

"Oh, yeah, much better...I would imagine," says Bianca with shifty eyes.

Sadusky laughs and gets out of the car. Ben and Bianca get out also and follow Sadusky into the hotel lobby. Sadusky walks over to the receptionist and finds out where the others are staying.

Bianca gives Ben a hug when Sadusky goes.

"What was that for?" Ben asks after Bianca lets go.

"I'm just really happy for you, Ben. You found the treasure, sent Ian to prison, and you got the girl," she says nudging him.

"And how would you know that?" Ben asks.

"I saw you kiss her," Bianca says simply.

"Oh," says Ben going red in the cheeks.

Sadusky comes back over to Ben and Bianca.

"Shall we?" he asks.

They nod in agreement and follow Sadusky over to the elevators. They get in and take it all the way up. When the doors open, they step out and walk to the door that is straight ahead of them.

Bianca looks at the little sign next to the double doors.

"Holy Shit! The Presidential Suite!" she practically screams.

Ben and Sadusky look at Bianca shocked.

As soon as they regain their composure, the door to the room opens and Patrick is standing there.

"I thought I heard someone familiar out here," says Patrick leaning on the door.

"Heh, yeah. Only me," says Bianca.

Patrick steps aside and Bianca walks in. She immediately sees Riley stand from the couch and runs over to him, throwing her arms around his neck. Riley stumbles back a bit and puts his arms around Bianca, holding her tight and resting his chin on her shoulder.

Abigail heard all of the commotion and came out of the room she was in. She sees Ben shaking his father's hand and giving him a hug. Abigail goes over to Ben and hugs him.

Bianca and Riley let go of each other a minute or 2 later and so do Ben and Abigail.

Sadusky excuses himself, saying he will see them at 9:00 later in the morning.

Patrick closes the door and walks into the kitchen area and gets a glass of water.

"Good night, all," he says walking towards his room.

"Good night," the other 4 chime in at different times.

Riley flops back down on the couch and Bianca sits next to him.

"Night, guys," says Ben as he and Abigail head to the extra bedroom (with 2 queen-sized beds).

"Night," Bianca and Riley say together.

Once Ben and Abigail leave the room, Riley reclines on the arm of the couch and puts his feet up on it. Bianca leans back on Riley's chest and snuggles in. Within minutes, everyone is asleep.

Bianca is the first to wake up; around 7:30. That is extremely early for her. She tries to sit up, but Riley's grip on her is too strong. She picks her head up to look up at him. He's pretty much out of it...until Bianca pokes him in the side. He stirs a bit, then opens his eyes and looks to her.

"Hey," he says very groggily.

"Mornin'," she says, "Do you mind letting me up?"

"Oh, sorry," he says letting his arms slide off of her.

Bianca gets off of the couch (and Riley) and goes into the kitchen to get a drink. She watches Riley stretch on the couch and get up very slowly.

"What are you doing up so early? I thought you weren't a morning person," Riley says walking into the kitchen as well.

"I'm not, but I got a few hours of sleep on the chopper earlier this morning," she explains, "So I didn't need that much sleep."

Bianca turns her back to Riley and reads a newspaper from the previous day that was lying on the counter. Riley comes up behind her and puts his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. She tilts her head sideways and rests her head on his.

"What's all this for?" Bianca asks.

"I need a reason?" Riley counters.

Bianca laughs.

"No, just curious," she says turning in Riley's grip to face him.

Bianca wraps her arms around Riley's neck and they stand there for a few minutes. Bianca pulls away, but keeps her arms around him. She looks deeply into his blue eyes and her looks straight back into her emerald green eyes. They slowly move closer together until Riley just kisses Bianca. She is shocked at first, but kisses him back.

They pull back and grin at each other and rest their foreheads together. Bianca takes a glance over to her right and sees Ben standing there. Bianca turns her head back to Riley and buries her head in Riley's opposite shoulder. Riley looks over to where Bianca was just looking.

"Hi, Ben," he says.

"Hi...I saw that," Ben says.

"Saw what? I don't know what on earth you could be talking about," says Bianca lifting up her head and letting go of Riley.

Ben rolls his eyes and goes to sit on a chair next to the couch. Bianca and Riley look at each other and then sit on the couch to keep Ben company. Bianca looks at Ben, who is shaking his head, grinning.

"What? Now we're even," says Bianca.

"Even for what?" Ben asks.

Bianca rolls her eyes.

"Are you really that dense?" she asks, "Your 'boldness' going down to the treasure," she says using air-quotes around boldness.

"Oh, yeah," says Ben, "Fine. We're even."

* * *

**A/N:** _More real soon..._  



	26. Ride Back to DC and Plans

At that moment, Abigail walks out of the room she was sleeping in.

"Morning," says Bianca all too cheerfully.

"I hate you," Abigail mumbles.

Bianca's face falls.

"What? Why? What'd I do?" she asks.

"You're awake," Abigail says, yawning.

"Ha. Well, it's not my fault I can run on less amounts of sleep than everyone else," Bianca states.

Abigail walks over to Ben's chair and sits on the arm. Bianca raises an eyebrow at Ben.

"Alright, alright," he mumbles.

Bianca grins a sly grin.

"I'm missing something here, aren't I?" Riley asks.

"Yeah...I'll tell you later," says Bianca.

Patrick walks out of the master bedroom a few minutes later and they all go down to the main floor to get a free breakfast.

At 5 minutes to 9:00, the 5 go sit in the lobby and wait for Sadusky. At exactly 9:00, Sadusky walks into the hotel.

"Are we all ready to go?" Sadusky asks.

They nod and follow Sadusky outside to a line of cars. In the exact middle of the line, is a limo. Bianca's jaw drops and her eyes go wide.

"We get to ride in that?" asks Riley.

"Yup," says Sadusky simply.

"Excellent," whispers Bianca.

The 5 get into the limo and Sadusky gets into one of the other cars in the front. Ben and Abigail sit on the back seat, Patrick sits on the seat behind the passenger's side, and Bianca and Riley sit on the side behind the driver (Bianca is closest to the driver's seat).

The driver closes the door and gets into the front. He waits for the other cars ahead of him to leave, then starts to drive.

When they reach the freeway, Riley starts to fall asleep and slowly his head starts to fall onto Bianca's shoulder. Bianca had been staring out the window and didn't notice him until she felt his head. Bianca looks down at him and then shoots a look to Ben. Ben looks to her and grins slightly. Bianca rolls her eyes, then looks back out of the window.

About 10 minutes later, Patrick decides to stretch out on the seat and take a nap. Ben and Abigail cuddle and also take a nap. Bianca seems to be the only one who could stay awake. She does, however, rest her head on top of Riley's.

3 hours into the drive, Riley starts to wake up. Bianca lifts her head up and looks at him.

"Have a nice nap?" she asks Riley.

"Yeah...Are we there yet?" he asks groggily.

"No, not yet. We probably have at least another 3 hours," she says.

"Oh," he says yawning, "Have you slept at all?"

"Nah, I've been thinking," she says looking at her hands.

"Thinking? About what?" he inquires.

"About what I'm going to do when I get home. I don't want to have to go back to Philadelphia because I don't want to be away from you...or Ben, but I don't want to leave my job either, so I've been thinking of what I'm going to do," Bianca explains.

"Have you come to a conclusion?" Riley asks.

"I have an idea, but I'm not sure if it'll work," Bianca says looking out of the window.

"You gonna tell me or do I have to guess?" says Riley.

Bianca lets out a laugh.

"I was thinking of finding a place in D.C. and asking Abigail for a job in the Archives Building, but I'm going to let my current boss know, that he can contact me if they have anything interesting for me. That way, I can still be near everyone and do things that I want to do," she says.

"Sounds like a plan to me," says Riley.

"Yeah, except I don't know where I'm going to live until I actually find a place and get a job," says Bianca.

"You could stay with me," Riley says hesitantly, "Until you find somewhere to live that is," he adds quickly.

Bianca stares at him.

"What?" she asks.

"Well, you don't have to if you don't want to," Riley says quickly.

"I'll think about it," she says, smiling coyly and looking back out of the window.

The hours fly by, and the cars (and limo) reach FBI headquarters and everyone gets out. Ben goes into the building with his father and Sadusky. Bianca, Riley, and Abigail sit under the trees outside of the building. When Patrick and Ben come back out, they join the other 3 by a tree.

"Who's up for some food?" Patrick asks, "My treat."

"I'm up for that," says Bianca standing from her complicated sitting position.

"Where?" Abigail asks.

Bianca and Riley look at each other, then look to Ben. He rolls his eyes.

"How about Capitol City," suggests Ben.

Riley and Bianca smile.

"Capitol City it is then," says Abigail.

The 5 walk down to the restaurant to have a meal. Ben and Abigail link arms and walk in front of Patrick, Riley, and Bianca. Riley grabs Bianca's hand and they walk a few feet behind the other 3.

Bianca leans over towards Riley.

"You remember the last time we were at Capitol City?" She asks him quietly.

"Yeah...you were quiet then," Riley says.

"Hey! No one could shut _you_ up then," Bianca retorts, "So I guess we sort of changed places."

"Sure, if you want to see it that way," he says leaning down and kissing her forehead.

The 5 get to the restaurant and get seated. Then they all order some drinks. Alcoholic, ones to be exact. They could use it. Bianca ordered a pint of Guinness beer. Riley ordered a bottle of Corona. Patrick got a pint of Black and Tan beer. Ben got a dry martini. (**A/N: **_Shaken, not stirred. Haha. Sorry, couldn't resist the Bond. James Bond._) And Abigail got a mango Margarita. The waitress comes back with their drinks.

* * *

**A/N:** _There you go...three updates in one day! D_  



	27. Cheers!

**A/N: **_Happy Easter! Here's my Easter present to you all...enjoy!_

_

* * *

"_How 'bout a toast?" says Bianca raising her pint.

"To what?" Abigail asks.

"To friends, family, and..." Ben starts to say.

"And the shit load of treasure that's coming our way," Bianca says quietly.

"Here, here," says Riley.

They start laughing, then they notice that no one else was. They stop immediately.

"Sorry," Bianca mumbles to everyone else.

Ben clears his throat.

"Right...To friends, family," he pauses, looking from Bianca to Riley, "and to the _boat_ load of treasure that's coming our way!" He stresses the word 'boat'.

Ben smirks.

"Yeah!" say Bianca and Riley.

Everyone laughs and they clink glasses. They take a drink from their glasses. As soon as they do, the waitress comes back to take their food orders. (Burgers all around!)

Once the waitress leaves, they don't talk. There's not much to talk about since they've spent the last few days together.

Bianca rests her hands on her legs and stares out into space. She's pulled back into the world of the reality when Riley takes her hand. She looks over at him and smiles.

The waitress comes back with their burgers a few minutes later and they all stuff themselves.

After their lunch, they go to Ben's apartment where Ben helps Bianca change her bandages on her shoulder and knee. They crash in the apartment for the rest of the day. Between TV and childish games, they take cat-naps and have light meals.

Once night comes, Bianca and Riley crash on the bigger of the 2 couches, while Patrick takes the other couch. Abigail and Ben go into Ben's bedroom. (**A/N: **_No, none of that stuff...freaks..._)

The next morning, Bianca is the first one awake. She carefully gets out of Riley's grip and goes into the kitchen. A few minutes later, she's joined by Abigail. Bianca feels that this is the right time to ask Abigail if she has any job positions at the Archives Building.

"Uh, Abigail? Can I ask you something?" Bianca asks, shyly sitting in one of the chairs.

"Yeah, sure," Abigail says sitting next to Bianca.

"I was, uh, just wondering if, uh, you have any, uh, positions available at the National Archives?" Bianca asks looking around the room.

"Why do you ask?" Abigail questions.

Bianca sighs.

"I want to be closer to friends and I can't do that from Philadelphia. I mean, you, Ben, and Riley all live here and I don't, so I was going to look for a place here and I kinda need a job," Bianca explains.

Abigail thinks for a minute.

"I might be able to help you out. I'll have to pull some strings, but I think I can get you a position close to my area of work," she says.

"Are you serious? That's great!" Bianca says getting out of her chair and hugging Abigail.

"Sure. I'll talk to them tomorrow," says Abigail.

The guys slowly wake up one at a time and they all gather in the kitchen.

"What's on the agenda for today?" Patrick asks yawning.

"Well, I think I should be getting back to my apartment and to tell my boss that I'm quitting," Bianca says.

"What! Why are you quitting!" Ben asks, "You're so good at your job."

"I know, I know, but listen, Ben. I'm going to be moving down here to be closer to you guys," Bianca starts indicating to Ben, Abigail, and Riley, "And Abigail's going to pull some strings to get me a job at the National Archives."

"Oh, that's great," says Patrick.

"Where are you going to move to though?" Ben asks.

"I have an idea," Bianca says taking a glance at Riley.

Riley nods slightly to her.

"Uh huh," says Ben skeptically also looking in Riley's direction.

Riley instantly puts on an innocent face.

"Right, well, I guess I better be heading home, too. There are still some bills that have to be paid," says Patrick, changing the subject.

"Yeah, I'll drive," Ben suggests, "Whose coming?"

"Me, obviously," mumbles Bianca.

"And me," says Patrick.

"I guess..." Riley starts to say, but Bianca, discretely shakes her head no.

"You guess what?" asks Ben.

"Never mind. I have some things I need to do at home," he replies sadly.

"I need to get back to my place to do some things to get ready for work tomorrow," says Abigail.

"Okay, let's go," says Ben walking towards the door.

Abigail and Patrick follow him. Riley starts to follow, but Bianca pulls on his sleeve to keep him back.

Riley faces Bianca.

"Why shouldn't I go?" he asks her quietly.

"Because, Stupid, you should drive up separately so you can bring me back here and Ben won't know," Bianca explains.

"Oh, got it...but I don't know where you live," he states.

"Ever hear of a cell phone?" Bianca asks taking her phone out of her pocket and waving it in his face, "When Ben drops me off, I'll call you and give you directions to my crap-artment."

(**A/N: **_That's a word I just made up...huh...I guess it's a cross between crappy and apartment..._)

Riley nods, showing that he understands and the 2 follow Ben and Patrick out to the car.

When at the car, Ben hugs Abigail and she kisses him. They whisper sweet nothings to each other before Bianca clears her throat.

"Do you mind? I'd actually like to keep my breakfast in my stomach, thanks," she says.

Ben clears his throat and gets into the car, blushing slightly.

Bianca hugs Riley.

"Just go on I95 north and keep going towards the Philly exit. Give us a half hour head start at least," she whispers to him and kisses him on the cheek.

(**A/N: **_Yeah, I know there's more than one exit for Philadelphia, but just work with me here. I'm making this up._)

"Alright, see you soon," he says.

Bianca lets go of Riley and gets into the back seat of Ben's car. (Since Patrick took the front seat.)

Ben starts to drive off. Bianca looks out of the rear window and waves to Abigail and Riley.

* * *

**A/N: **_And there you have it...Happy Easter, again...I'm off to do homework._

_Oh, and I enjoy reviews...I feed off of them. You don't want me to die of starvation, do you?_


	28. Bianca's 'Crapartment'

**A/N: **_Woooo! I'm celebrating the end of my first year in college...by updating! I had my last exam today for the summer! Wooo!_

_

* * *

_About 3 hours later, Ben hits the off ramp to Philadelphia.

"Okay, who am I dropping off first?" he asks.

"Could you drop me off? I have some things I have to take care of and I'm sure you 2 want to catch up on some things," says Bianca.

"Uh huh," says Ben skeptically looking at Bianca in the rear-view mirror.

"What? I do!" she says defensively looking at him in the mirror.

"Alright, fine," he says not pushing the matter.

Bianca saw Patrick give his son a sideways glance.

Within 15 minutes of getting off of the highway, they reach Bianca's apartment.

Bianca gets out of the car and stares up at her apartment windows and sighs.

"What's wrong?" Ben asks also getting out of the car and walking over to her side.

"I'm just going to miss it. That's all," she says keeping her gaze at the windows.

Ben claps a hand on her shoulder.

"No you won't. You'll be having too much fun in D.C.," he says grinning down at her.

"You're probably right," she smiles. "Well, I guess you better get back on the road."

"Yeah, I guess," Ben replies.

Ben gets Bianca's bag out of the car and hands it to her. Bianca places the bag on the ground and gives her friend a hug.

"I'll see you soon. I'm glad you got to find the treasure, Ben," she says stepping back.

"Hey, I had your help, too," he says.

"Yeah, you're right," she laughs.

Ben laughs also and goes back to his side of the car, while Patrick rolls down the window.

"It was good seeing you again, Bianca," says Patrick.

"It was good to see you, too. Maybe I'll see you again soon," she says.

Bianca backs away from the curb and lets Ben drive off. She waves after them. Once they were out of sight, she goes into her apartment building and goes up the 2 floors to her apartment. Once outside her door, she digs through her bag to look for her keys. She has to get to the very bottom to get them, but she does and opens the door. She steps in and immediately takes off her shoes and then throws her bag in her bedroom. Then, she goes into the bathroom and gives her wounds a bandage change. She goes back into her tiny living room and opens the window. She pulls a chair up to the window and waits for Riley's call.

About an hour later, Bianca's phone starts to ring. (She was starting to nod off from the cool breeze that was blowing through the window.) She jumps out of the chair and gets her phone that she had placed on the kitchen counter. She notices the phone number as Riley's phone, so she picks it up.

"Took you long enough," she says into the phone.

"Sorry, I had to stop by my place before I came up," he explains.

"Fine. Do you want the directions now?" she asks.

"That might be helpful," he says.

Bianca stays on the phone and gives directions to Riley as he gets to the places she tells him.

In minutes, Bianca sees the all too familiar red van pull up the street. She runs down the stairs and waves Riley down. He is lucky enough to get a parking spot right out front. Bianca hangs up the phone and puts it in her pocket.

She stands on the sidewalk anxiously waiting for Riley to get out of the van.

He quickly does and walks up to Bianca, giving her a hug, which she gladly accepts and returns.

They pull apart from their hug and Bianca gives Riley a quick peek on the lips.

"Would you like to come up and have something to eat?" Bianca asks.

"Gladly," Riley says, "I just need to get something out of the van."

He opens the side door and grabs a bag from inside the van, then closes the door, locking it.

Bianca and Riley hold hands as they walk up to Bianca's apartment.

They get into the apartment and Bianca locks the door behind them.

"Where should I put my stuff?" Riley asks, looking around.

"I guess you can put it in my room...unless you want to stay on the couch," Bianca says.

"I'll take the room," says Riley quietly.

Bianca grins and takes his bag into her bedroom.

"What would you like to eat?" Bianca asks Riley walking into the kitchen, "I have some chicken and rice in here."

"I thought you didn't cook," states Riley looking at her suspiciously.

"Well, that was when I didn't want to cook for _you_," she grins.

"Right," he says.

Bianca sighs.

"Do you want me to cook the chicken or what?" she asks.

"Yeah, that's fine," Riley replies.

"I guess you can watch some TV if you want while I cook this...or you can help," says Bianca.

"I'll let you do it," he says flopping on the couch. "I'm not a good cook."

Bianca rolls her eyes while she puts the chicken in a pan.

Riley flips through the channels and stops at the news. Bianca can hear a very familiar voice and walks into the room to check it out.

On the television, Agent Sadusky talking to a news reporter.

"Yes, the Declaration of Independence was stolen, but it's now returned to the National Archives, where it can promptly be put back on display for the American people," Sadusky answers the news guy.

"And why was it stolen?" The reporter asks.

"It seems there was a map on the back. Mr.'s Patrick and Benjamin Gates, along with the help of Miss Bianca Lewis of Philadelphia and Mr. Riley Poole of the D.C. area, found an amount of treasure hidden by the Knights Templar hundreds of years ago. Mr. Benjamin Gates has decided to split the treasure and give it to some of the most respectable museums of the world," Sadusky explains.

At the mention of their names, Bianca and Riley grin broadly at each other.

Bianca's cell phone starts to ring.

"Hello, Ben," she says into the phone.

"Hey. Did you just happen to see the news?" Ben asks.

"You saw that too? I feel embarrassed now," she mumbles.

"Yeah, dad turned on the television when we got here and he's been looking for some mention ever since," Ben explains.

Bianca laughs.

"So he's really into this now, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess," says Ben. "I have to go get some dinner for us. Let me know when you find a place in D.C. I'll talk to you soon, alright?"

"Yeah, Ben, you'll be the first to know," says Bianca hanging up the phone and placing it on the dining room table.

"Ben?" Riley asks.

"Yeah."

"Did he see this?"

"Yeah."

"Ahh," he says and goes back to watching the television.

Bianca shakes her head, grinning, and wraps her arms around Riley's neck.

"You make me laugh, you know that?" she asks him.

"Yeah, I guess that's what I'm good for," he says turning his head to look into Bianca's eyes.

Bianca kisses him and goes back to finish cooking their dinner.

After their lovely dinner that Bianca made (chicken seasoned with some of that Emeril seasoning and rice), Bianca sits on the couch wrapped in Riley's arms and they watch some television (a bunch of cartoons such as Family Guy, the Simpsons, and Futurama) until they start to get sleepy.

They get off of the couch and change into their sleep attire. Bianca changes into a pair of gray sweatpants and a navy blue spaghetti-strap shirt. She also changes her bandages for the last time that day. Riley also wears a pair of sweatpants (except his are blue) and an orange t-shirt.

"Way to match there, chief," Bianca says sarcastically looking over Riley's clothes.

"Well, it doesn't matter. I'm just sleeping not going out in public," he retorts.

* * *

**A/N: **_Be on the look out for at least 2 more today!_  



	29. Ugh, work

Bianca shrugs and they jump into bed. Bianca lies on her left side, facing away from Riley and he lies towards her, putting his hand on her shoulder and the rest of his arm resting on her back. He runs his hand down to Bianca's wound and kisses it softly. Bianca turns her head to Riley and kisses him.

"Good night, Riley," she says in a voice just above a whisper.

"Good night," he replies in the same voice.

Within a few minutes, both Riley and Bianca are out cold in a deep sleep. They have the same grin on their faces.

Bianca wakes up the next morning staring into Riley's neck. It takes Bianca a few seconds to realize what she was looking at. She lifts her head up slightly to look at the rest of her body. Riley's arms are both tightly wrapped around her torso and their legs are entwined together. Bianca grins inwardly and looks up to Riley's sleeping face. He looks so cute and peaceful.

Bianca, with her free arm, puts it over Riley and hugs him slightly. She snuggles back into his neck.

A few seconds later, Riley stirs and looks down at Bianca. Bianca looks back up at him, smiling. Riley smiles, too.

"Mornin'," he says groggily.

"Morning," Bianca says quietly.

Riley leans towards her and kisses her forehead lightly.

They stare at each other for a few moments.

"Uh, Riley? Not to, uh, ruin the moment, but could you possibly get off of my arm?" Bianca asks, now realizing that her right arm is trapped under Riley's body.

"Oh, sorry," he says lifting himself up.

Bianca pulls her arm out and immediately gets that pins and needles feeling you get when a body part falls asleep.

"Ow, ow, ow," Bianca mumbles quietly, rolling on her back and grabbing her shoulder; recovering from the pins and needles effect.

"What? What is it?" Riley asks.

"My shoulder," Bianca cringes.

"Oh, snap. I'm so sorry," says Riley, leaning over her.

Bianca grins and looks up at Riley.

"Got ya," she says.

Riley's face softens.

"I hate you," he says flopping back down on the bed.

"No you don't. You love me," she teases, propping herself up on an elbow.

"Eh, you're right," he says and tries to tickle Bianca.

Lucky for her, she slips out of his grip and rolls to the floor with a thump.

"Are you alright?" Riley asks, worried.

Bianca pops up and kisses him.

"Yeah, fine," she says and runs out of the bedroom.

"Hey!" Riley says and runs after her.

Bianca runs into the living room in front of the couch. Riley follows, but goes to the back of the couch. Bianca makes like she's going to the kitchen, but goes in the opposite direction back to the bedroom. Again, Riley follows and closes the door behind him. Bianca tries to jump over the bed, but Riley catches her ankle and she falls _onto_ the bed. Riley scrambles on top of her to keep her there and tickles her.

"Riley...haha...stop...haha...I can't...haha...breathe," Bianca says in between taking breathes and laughing.

Riley stops, but continues to sit on her, grinning.

"You deserved that," he says.

"I did not," scoffs Bianca after she gets her breath back.

Riley, still grinning, leans down and kisses her.

"Well, it worked didn't it?" he asks.

Bianca's face falls.

"Huh. Work. I have to tell them I'm quitting," says Bianca sadly.

"It can't be all that bad," says Riley, getting off of Bianca and laying next to her on his side, propping himself up on an elbow. "Besides, I'll go with you."

"You don't have to do that. I can handle my boss. Heh, he let me go with Ben without any warning," Bianca explains looking up at the ceiling.

"Well, I don't have anything else to do, so I might as well come...think of it as moral support," he says.

"Oh, alright. But you have to behave," she warns him.

"When have I ever not behaved?" Riley asks.

Bianca laughs.

"Oh, you were being serious," she mocks after she notices Riley wasn't laughing.

"Haha, very funny," Riley says sarcastically.

Bianca gets off of the bed and walks over to a dresser. She pulls out a pair of jeans and a light green, three quarter sleeve, v-neck shirt.

"I need a shower. Entertain yourself for a couple of minutes," Bianca says, going into the bathroom.

"What? Can't I come?" Riley asks innocently.

Bianca gives a laugh from the bathroom and throws a towel at Riley's head.

"Oww," he says, indicating that Bianca hit him.

Riley throws the towel back at her, but Bianca closes the door before it hits.

Half an hour later, Bianca emerges from the bathroom, drying her hair with a towel. Riley had disappeared from the bedroom, so she goes out into the living room to look for him...he's not there. She goes into the kitchen and finds Riley sitting at the table with 2 plates of eggs sitting in front of him.

Bianca walks over to him in disbelief.

"Did you actually make this yourself?" She asks him.

"Why, yes," he replies, grinning.

"I didn't know you could cook," Bianca states.

"You never asked," Riley says.

Bianca sits in a chair opposite Riley and stares at the food with her mouth hanging open.

"You can close your mouth, you know," Riley laughs.

"Sorry. It just never occurred to me that you could cook!" she says shaking her head and looking straight at Riley.

Riley passes her a plate of eggs.

After their breakfast, Riley gets dressed and they head down to the van and go to the University of Pennsylvania of Archeology and Anthropology Museum; the place where Bianca works.

They park the van in a parking garage and walk into the museum. (Riley grumbling the whole time because he had to pay the 7 dollars for parking.) Bianca laughs, takes Riley's hand, and tells him she'll give him the 7 dollars when they get back to her apartment.

They get into the elevator and take it up to Bianca's floor.

Once they step out of the elevator, they are greeted with cheers and congratulatory greetings. (**A/N: **_That was redundant...oh well._)

Bianca looks around the floor and feels her cheeks getting red.

"What the hell is going on?" Riley asks more to himself than anyone.

"Good question," Bianca says, walking through the sea of co-workers.

She pulls aside one of the workers.

"Ria, what's everyone cheering for?" Bianca asks.

"It's you! We all saw the news and heard what you did," Ria explains.

"Oh, that," she mumbles, holding tighter onto Riley.

Bianca tugs on Riley, leading him to her office.

"Wow, Ben wasn't kidding when he said it felt like a cubicle in here," Riley says looking around the office.

"Oh, shut up," Bianca mumbles. "Just don't touch anything."

Riley carefully sits in Bianca's chair, while she goes over to a cabinet.

The cabinet that Bianca is rummaging in is a micro-fridge.

"Aww, sweet!" she exclaims, still with her head in the fridge.

"What?" Riley asks looking at her strangely.

"My Gatorade's still here! No one raided my fridge! Ha!" she says taking a bottle out.

"Want one?" she asks Riley.

"Nah, Gatorade's not my thing," he says reclining in the chair.

"Whatever," Bianca mumbles, taking a swig.

A few minutes later, Bianca decides that now is the time to tell her boss the news.

"I'm going to go talk to my boss, now. Are you going to stay here?" Bianca asks Riley.

"I'll come with you. You look like you're going to throw up," he says standing from Bianca's chair and walking towards her.

"You're such a charmer, you know that?" she says hugging him.

"Yeah, what can I say?" he says hugging her back tightly. "Come on. It's now or never."

"Yeah, okay," Bianca says walking through the door.

Bianca takes Riley's hand and they go to Mr. Johnson's office. The cheering had subsided, but every once in a while there was a cheer when they walk by a few people.

Bianca and Riley walk over to Mr. Johnson's office. Bianca tells his secretary that she has something incredibly important to tell him. The secretary bustles into Mr. Johnson's office and comes back seconds later, telling Bianca that she can go in.

"Are you sure you're going to be alright?" Riley asks looking directly into Bianca's eyes.

"Yeah. I hope," she replies and gives him a quick kiss.

Riley squeezes her hand as she walks away.

In the office, Mr. Johnson was typing something on his computer. He sees Bianca come in and stands up immediately.

"Bianca, how are you doing today?" he says very cheerfully.

"I'm alright," she replies quietly.

"Please, please, have a seat," he says indicating a chair in front of his desk.

Mr. Johnson walks around the desk and sits back behind it.

"Now, can I help you with something?" he says.

"Yes, actually. You see, when I was running around the whole east coast, I figured that I need to be closer to my friends..." she begins.

"Wait, wait, I know where this is going," Mr. Johnson interrupts. "You're leaving us aren't you?"

"Uh, yeah. But you can always e-mail me if something hard or interesting comes up," she says quietly.

Mr. Johnson sighs.

"Where will you be going to?" he asks, slightly disappointed.

"D.C. I might already have a job at the National Archives building," Bianca explains.

"Well, we will certainly miss you around here," he says getting up from his chair again and walking over to Bianca, who stands up.

"See, this is why I like you. You're so understanding," she says, smiling.

"Yeah, I know," says Mr. Johnson. "Just keep in touch."

"I will," says Bianca leaving the office.

Bianca runs over to Riley and gives him a hug.

"I guess it went well," he says.

"Yeah," she says smiling. "Come on."

The 2 walk back towards Bianca's office.

* * *

**A/N:** _Wow, sorry these are getting really lame...I hadn't noticed until now...  
_


	30. Oh, Happy Day

"I guess I should clean this place out," says Bianca looking around her office.

"Good luck with that," says Riley, trying to walk away.

"Oh, no. You're helping me. We'll get out of here sooner," she says grabbing his sleeve.

They clean up the office as best they can and put everything in a few boxes. They finish about 2 hours later. Bianca grabs the green pen her father gave her and puts it in her pocket.

They carry the boxes out of the office. Bianca takes one last look around her office, sighs, and closes the door. They walk through the floor to the elevator. Ria comes up to Bianca.

"So, it's really true, then?" she asks.

"Yeah, I'm leaving. But you can always e-mail me," Bianca says smiling.

"I'll do that," says Ria and walks off.

Riley and Bianca get into the elevator and head to the van. Riley opens the sliding door and sets down the box he was carrying. Bianca does the same and sits on the edge, staring at her feet, sadly.

"Alright, what's wrong?" Riley asks kneeling in front of her.

"Nothing," she says quietly looking away from him.

"Right, like I'm going to believe that," he says.

Bianca doesn't answer.

"Just tell me," he says taking her face gently in his hands and turning her head back to him.

"I'm just going to miss this...that's all," she says trying to force a smile.

"It can't be all that bad. Besides, you'll be with me. The infamous Riley Poole," he says grinning.

Bianca smiles and drops to her knees in front of him and hugs him tight. Riley hugs her back.

They pull away a minute later.

"You okay now?" Riley asks.

"Yeah. Let's go," Bianca replies.

They get into the van and head back to Bianca's apartment.

No sooner had they walked in the door to the apartment, Bianca's cell phone rings.

"Hello?" she answers, not recognizing the number.

"Bianca, it's Abigail. I just talked to my employer and he says there's a position available here for you," explains Abigail.

"That's great," says Bianca turning the speaker on her phone so Riley could hear.

"Yeah, once you get settled in here, you'll be put to work," Abigail continues.

"What will I be doing, exactly?" Bianca asks, looking at Riley.

"They have you doing some little odds-and-ends things, but there might be an opening for something higher up on the food chain in a few weeks," Abigail says.

"Oh, okay," Bianca says uncertainly.

"Oh, I have to get going. Call me when you get here. Ben has my number," says Abigail.

"I kinda figured that," mumbles Bianca.

"Alright, talk to you later," she says into the phone and hangs up.

Bianca places the phone on the table and runs over to hug Riley. She then kisses him.

"I guess you're feeling better now," he says to her.

"Yeah, much," she says kissing him again.

Bianca lets go of Riley and goes to sit on the couch. Riley follows and flops down next to her, throwing an arm around her shoulders.

"I'm hungry. Are you?" Bianca asks a while later.

"Yeah, what do you have in mind?" he asks.

"How about some Chinese food. I don't feel like making anything today," Bianca says propping her feet up on the coffee table.

"Okay," says Riley, doing the same.

They call up a Chinese restaurant nearby and order some food. When the food gets there, Bianca pays for it and they sit back on the couch.

"You owe me for all this food," Bianca says to Riley as she tries to pick up some noodles with the chopsticks.

"Yeah, I'll make it up to you...someday," he replies with a smug grin on his face.

Bianca growls at him, then at the food.

"That's it! I need a fork!" she says.

Bianca gets off of the couch, goes into the kitchen, and grabs a fork.

"You want one too?" she yells to Riley.

"Yeah, sure," he says dropping a noodle back in the box.

Bianca grabs 2 forks and heads back to the couch.

After their meal, they watched television for a few hours, then Bianca decided she needed to get boxes for all her stuff, so she can move sooner. She was really excited about the new job she received in Washington.

Bianca and Riley walk down the street to a little shopping center, where there just happened to be a UPS store. They get a few boxes and bubble wrap and head back to the apartment. (**A/N: **_Oooh, bubble wrap...be right back! runs out of the room to get bubble wrap Okay I'm back!_)

They start packing some things. Bianca leaves Riley from packing some living room stuff to call her land lord to tell him that she's moving out.

She comes back to help Riley a few minutes later.

"Everything's settled. I have to be out in 2 days, though," says Bianca picking up a lamp and disassembling it to put it in the box. (**A/N:**_I don't live in an apartment, so I don't know if that's what they do, but in this story, that's what happens._)

"Not a problem," grumbles Riley picking up a stack of books.

They pack some things from different rooms into the wee hours of the morning. They decide to get some sleep around 4 in the morning.

Riley claimed he needed a shower after the many hours of packing.

"Here's a towel," Bianca says tossing him one from across the room. "And don't use any of my soap. If you do, I'll know."

"Yeah, okay," he says closing the door to the bathroom just before a pillow hit it.

* * *

Riley comes out of the bathroom 45 minutes later. The bedroom is dark except for the glow from the television that Bianca left on. Riley goes over to the bed and notices Bianca is already in a deep sleep. 

He sighs and gets in the bed next to her. He wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her close to him. She turns over in her sleep to face him and snuggles into his chest. A grin forming on her face. Riley grins and gives into sleep soon after.

* * *

The next morning Bianca and Riley wake up at the same time. After fully waking up, they stretch and get out of bed. 

After a light breakfast, they continue packing. Bianca goes into the bedroom and bathroom and packs the things in there, while Riley packs the things from the kitchen and living room.

"Riley! I could use your help in here!" Bianca shouts out to him.

Riley comes rushing into the bedroom and sees Bianca holding the mattress on its end, struggling to keep it upright.

"You gonna help me or what?" Bianca asks, fighting the mattress.

"Nah, I'd rather watch you suffer," he replies smugly, crossing his arms and leaning on the door frame.

"If you don't get over here...I...I'm not going to stay with you," she threatens.

Riley quickly gets away from the door frame and helps Bianca move the mattress against the wall.

"Whew, I knew that would work," she mumbles, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand.

"You're mean," Riley mumbles and goes back out to the kitchen.

By 11 o'clock that night, they finished packing everything of importance. The next morning they have to be out of the apartment by 9 o'clock.

Bianca pulls a sleeping bag and blanket out from one of the boxes in the bedroom. She spreads them out on the floor so they have somewhere to sleep. She unzips the sleeping bag and lays the soft side up. Riley lies on his back and Bianca lies next to him; using his chest as a pillow. Riley wraps an arm around her back and they fall asleep.

The next morning, Bianca wakes up around 8 o'clock. She gently shakes Riley awake. They change and start moving boxes into the infamous red van. The last thing they get is the mattress. There's no room _in_ the van so they use some bungee cords and bungee it to the roof.

They go back up to the apartment and double check to make sure they have everything.

"Have everything?" Riley asks walking to the door.

"I think so," says Bianca. "I just need to get one more thing."

She closes the door and lifts up the welcome mat in front of the door. There was an extra key under the mat.

"Alright. I'm ready," she says studying the key.

The go down the stairs to the landlord's office. Bianca walks in and cheerily gives him the keys.

"My mother thanks you. My father thanks you. My sister thanks you. And I thank you. Buon giorno! And have a nice life," Bianca says as she walks out the door of the office. (**A/N:**_The 'my mother thanks you' thing is from an old movie called "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and 'Buon giorno' means good day in Italian...Just to let you all know. Remember Bianca speaks fluent Italian._)

Bianca practically skips out of building and into the van, where Riley is waiting. She gets in and gives Riley a kiss.

"Why are you so happy?" he asks her.

"I'm just glad to be out of here," she says tilting her head back and stretching out her arms.

"Ahh, now what? Do you wanna get some breakfast somewhere?" Riley asks starting the van.

"Sure. Let's get something for on the way," says Bianca.

They drive around for a bit and get some food along the way. They sat in the van for a while to let the food settle.

* * *

**A/N: **_Hmm...yeah...more soon!_  



	31. Cha Ching!

**A/N: **_Sorry it took me a while...I got lazy again. Enjoy!_

_

* * *

_Bianca props her feet up on the dashboard and was starting to nod off a bit after eating. She was woken abruptly, though, when her cell phone rang.

"Gah! What the hell?" she says looking at the number.

She rolls her eyes and answers the phone.

"God, Ben. You have great timing you know that? I was just about to fall asleep," she says.

"Sorry, but this is important," Ben says on the other line.

"Why? What happened?" Bianca asks, getting worried.

She could feel her heart start to beat faster. Riley looks over to her.

"Nothing. Everything's fine," he says.

Bianca sighs a sigh of relief and mouths and 'okay' to Riley.

"Do you know where Riley is, by the way? He's not answering his phone," Ben continues.

"Oh, yeah. I know where Riley is," she glares at Riley, "Hang on a tick," she says to Ben.

"Why don't you have your phone on?" Bianca whispers harshly to Riley.

Riley takes his phone out of his pocket.

"Oh, shit. I never turned it on today," he says, looking from his phone to Bianca.

Bianca rolls her eyes again and slaps him on the arm.

"Sorry, there was a bug in my face," she lies, bringing the phone back up to her head.

"Riley's with you, isn't he?" Ben asks.

"Yeah, we're in the van," she sighs.

"Oooookaaaaay," says Ben, skeptically.

"Why'd you call Ben? You said it was important," Bianca asks.

"Right. I need you and Riley to come to my dad's house. I can't discuss this over the phone," Ben explains.

"Okay, we can be there in about 45 minutes," Bianca says making a face.

"Well, don't hurry or anything," Ben says sarcastically.

"Was...was that sarcasm? I didn't know you had any of that," Bianca says with just as much sarcasm.

"Shut up...Why so long? Wait never mind, I know. Just let me know when you're close," Ben says and hangs up the phone.

"Is Ben mad?" Riley asks as Bianca throws the phone in a bag by her feet.

"Nah, he wants us to go to his father's house. He says he has something important to tell us," says Bianca waving a hand around.

"And he knows we're going to take about 45 minutes, I assume...Don't say it," he finishes, seeing the look on Bianca's face about 'assuming'.

"You catch on quick," she grins, "And, yes, he knows."

Exactly 47 minutes and 23 seconds later, they stop in front of Patrick's house.

They both get out of the van and stretch; Bianca cracks her back in the process.

Bianca walks over to the driver's side of the car and takes Riley's hand. He smiles at her and they walk up the path to the front of the house.

They reach the door and Bianca rings the door bell and in a matter of seconds, Ben answers it.

"It's about time you 2 showed up," he says grinning at them.

"Nice to see you too, Ben," says Riley.

"I told you we were going to take awhile," says Bianca.

"Yeah, just get in here," says Ben, stepping to the side to let them in.

He takes a look past them and at the van.

"Is that a mattress on top of the van?" he asks pointing to it.

"Possibly," says Riley nonchalantly; as if he's rehearsed it.

Bianca turns to Ben.

"It could be an illusion of the mind," she says while flinging her arms around in a maniacal way.

"Yeah...It is, isn't it?" Ben says closing the door.

"Yeah," says Bianca sighing.

Ben shakes his head grinning and walks into the living room with everyone else.

Bianca notices that it isn't just Ben and Patrick in the house. Abigail was sitting comfortably in an armchair by the fireplace.

Riley and Bianca say their 'hello's and sit on one of the couches.

Ben sits on the arm of Abigail's chair.

"Alright, I wanted you guys here because I got a call from Agent Sadusky yesterday. He wanted to give me part of the treasure," Ben says.

Bianca's mouth hangs open.

"How much is 'part'?" she asks.

"I'm getting to that," he says and continues, "He said they're offering me 10 percent. Which would be a shit-load of money."

"No kidding," says Riley.

"Yeah, well, I...uh...I turned it down," Ben says shyly.

"You what!" everyone says at the same time.

"It was too much money. I couldn't take that from them," Ben says standing up.

"Who are _them_, exactly?" Bianca asks.

"The museums and anyone who bought the treasure," Ben explains.

"Oh," she says quietly.

"So how much did you take?...just out of curiosity," asks Abigail.

"Enough for each of us so that we'd be able to buy about 3 mansions and 3 very expensive cars," Ben explains.

"Wow. That's still a lot," says Bianca.

"Yeah, but they wouldn't let me take any less," says Ben sitting back down on the arm of the chair.

Bianca leans back on the couch.

Everyone relaxes a bit. Riley takes Bianca's hand in his and looks at her slightly.

They sit in silence for a while, taking it all in.

10 minutes later, Patrick stands up.

"Does anyone want some food?" he asks walking towards the kitchen.

"That would be great," says Abigail, going in the kitchen to help him.

"How 'bout a drink?" mumbles Bianca.

Riley lets out a laugh. Apparently, he heard Bianca's comment.

"I need a T.V. fix," says Ben, standing up again, "You 2 coming?"

He looks at Bianca and Riley.

"Sure," says Bianca.

They get up from the couch and go into the family room, where the T.V. is. Ben flops down on a chair and starts flipping through the channels looking for something good. He stops on a channel that's playing one of those old Western movies.

Riley takes up residence on a chair nearby, while Bianca stands behind them.

Bianca figures that now would be a good time to tell Ben about her plans. She feels that it isn't right, not to let Ben know.

"Ben. Can I talk to you for a few minutes?" she asks during a commercial.

"Yeah, sure," he says getting out of the chair.

"You gonna be okay by yourself, Riley?" Ben asks.

Riley's eyes are fixed on the screen and he just mumbles an 'uh huh.'

Bianca rolls her eyes and Ben leads her out into the backyard onto the porch.

She was about to sit in one of the chairs, but Ben stops her.

"Nope, we're going over here," he says walking through the lush, green grass into the neighbor's yard.

"Are we allowed to be over here?" Bianca asks, following behind him.

"Yeah, they won't mind...they're not home anyway," he says.

Ben walks up to the oh-so familiar swing set that used to belong to Bianca, and sits on one of the swings. He indicates for Bianca to take the swing next to him.

"I'm surprised it didn't break when you sat down," she says with a laugh, sitting in the swing herself, "Why here?"

"This is where I told you my secret about the treasure. Now it's your turn to tell me your secret," Ben says with a smug grin.

"You can be a jerk sometimes, you know?" Bianca says with her own smug grin.

"Yeah...spill," Ben pressures.

"Alright..." Bianca sighs and tells Ben her plans about the job at the Archives and things dealing with Riley. Such as the moving in stuff.

About 10 minutes later, Bianca sighs again, finishing the explanation of her plans. As far as she can tell, Ben seems very supportive.

* * *

**A/N: **_Another one coming right up!_  



	32. Bianca's Brilliant Idea

They get off of the swings. Ben throws a brotherly arm around Bianca's shoulders as they walk back to the house.

When they get back in the house, they notice Riley isn't glued to the television any more. Bianca walks into the kitchen, where she finds Riley sampling the food Abigail and Patrick had made for lunch. She walks over to him and pokes him in the back lightly. He turns his head to look at her and tries to give her a smile with a mouth full of food. Bianca laughs at his attempt and hugs him.

The 5 settle down to a nice, yet late lunch.

After their lunch, Ben has to meet Agent Sadusky to discuss some 'details,' as Ben called it.

Patrick and Abigail decide to watch some television, while Riley and Bianca play a version of Monopoly Patrick had lying around the house. It's the beer version called "Brew-olopy."

* * *

By the time Ben returns, it's close to 11:00 at night. Bianca and Riley finished their game and were resting on one of the couches in the living room. (Bianca actually felt asleep while leaning against Riley, who moved to make himself more comfortable and made Bianca move so she was resting her head on his chest.) Abigail was curled up in one of the cozy chairs in front of the television and Patrick was snoring slightly from _his_ chair by the television. 

Ben accidentally slams the front door shut, making Bianca jump awake and stand, Riley sit up, Patrick wake up, and Abigail stand up from the chair.

"Dammit, Ben! I hate you!" says Bianca yawning and sitting back on the couch, where Riley wraps his arms around her.

"My bad," Ben says as he walks through the house.

"Who the hell says that any more?" Bianca asks closing her eyes.

Ben rolls his eyes and goes into the kitchen.

* * *

"I have some, uh, interesting things for us," Ben voice echoes through the house. 

Bianca's eyes shoot back open in anger and mentally punch Ben. She gets off of Riley and the couch and goes into the kitchen; sitting in a seat next to Ben.

The other 3 filter in, yawning.

"What is it?" Patrick asks, sitting across from Ben and Bianca.

Riley sits down next to Bianca and puts an arm around her waist. He tilts his head and rests it on her shoulder as well. He closes his eyes.

Ben pulls 5 small pieces of paper out of his pocket.

"These. These are checks from the museums," explains Ben handing everyone theirs.

Riley's eyes shoot open and he sits straight up, taking his check from Ben and staring at it.

"Oh...my...god," says Bianca staring at hers, "Are these real?"

"Yup. I couldn't believe it myself," Ben says. Then he mumbles, "I didn't really want to take it."

Abigail comes up behind Ben and puts her arms around his neck, kissing him on the cheek.

"Aww, it's alright. At least it's not as much as it was," Abigail says in his ear.

"I guess so," he says quietly.

Bianca folds her check and stuffs it in her pocket.

Patrick, Abigail and Ben go back into the family room to watch more television until they fall asleep. Bianca and Riley go back into the living room and back on the couch.

Riley lies back against the armrest and Bianca lies next to him with her head on his chest.

Riley falls asleep almost instantly, while Bianca takes a little longer.

About 5:45 in the morning, Bianca wakes up suddenly, sitting up. She wakes up Riley in the process.

"What's wrong?" he asks rubbing his face.

"I just had a brilliant idea," she says, excitedly.

"What?" Riley asks again.

"I have to let Ben know also. Meet me and Ben on the back porch," she says standing up.

"Okay," says Riley, a little confused.

Bianca quietly goes into the family room and sees Ben fast asleep on the floor, facing the couch. Abigail is on the couch and Patrick is snoring lightly again in an armchair.

Bianca sneaks up to Ben and kneels down next to him. She gently shakes him until he rolls over onto his back and tries to open his eyes.

"Bianca?" he asks very groggily, with a hint of worry in his voice, "What's wrong?"

"Why does everyone ask me that when I have something to tell them?" she asks, grinning.

"Because you're always trouble," says Ben fully opening his eyes now.

Bianca rolls her eyes.

"I just came up with a brilliant plan and I want to tell you and Riley," she explains, "Come out on the back porch and I'll tell you."

She stands up and goes out the back door.

Once out back, she looks around the porch for Riley and finds him sitting in a wooden swing attached to the roof. He has a green fleece blanket wrapped tightly around him and is having trouble keeping his eyes open.

Bianca sits on the swing next to him and puts her arms around his waist; resting her head on his shoulder.

Riley opens the blanket and allows Bianca to be under it with him. He wraps his arms around her trying to keep her warm. She had started to shiver from the cool morning temperature of the early fall.

Ben comes out about a minute later clutching a blue fleece blanket to himself. He takes a chair from the table and sits in front of Bianca and Riley, who had started to swing slightly.

"Okay...what do you have to say that couldn't wait 'til earlier in the morning?" says Ben pulling the blanket closer to his body.

"I came up with an idea for us," Bianca says indicating to herself and Riley, "We could find a house, instead of living in Riley's apartment. I was thinking we could use the money from the museums to find a nice, big house somewhere in the country or something like that. I said I would let you know when I figured something out," she finishes with a grin.

"That's not too bad of an idea," says Riley looking at her, now more awake.

"That you did...it sounds like a great idea," says Ben, "Then you could each have your own space."

Bianca's grin breaks into a big smile.

"I'm glad you guys are into this," she says, "Ben, would you like to help us find somewhere?"

"I would love to...I was thinking Abigail and I could find somewhere too," he says looking up thoughtfully.

"Does Abigail know that you want to do that?" Riley asks.

"Umm, not yet, but I'm going to bring it up later today," Ben replies.

"That's good," says Bianca sighing, closing her eyes, and making herself comfortable on Riley's shoulder, near his chin.

Ben gives the 2 a skeptical look.

Riley just shrugs and puts his head on top of Bianca's.

Ben sighs and stands up.

"Well, I'll talk to you guys in a little bit," says Ben going back into the house.

Once Ben was back inside and the door was shut, Riley sighs.

"I think moving into a house is a great idea," he says.

Bianca looks into his blue eyes.

"Are you serious?" she asks, a hint of excitement in her voice.

"Yes," he says very softly.

Bianca smiles a genuine smile and gives Riley a fiery kiss.

After they pull away, Bianca puts her head back where it was on Riley's shoulder, smiling. Riley starts to swing them again.

They stay out on the swing for a good hour and a half. It's about 7:30 and Riley's stomach gives an enormous growl.

Bianca looks at his stomach then up to his face, grinning.

"Hungry?" she asks him.

"Just a little," he says grinning as well.

Bianca laughs.

"Well, let's go get some food," she says.

But neither of them move.

"If we're going to eat we have to move," says Bianca.

"I know, but I don't want to move," Riley says.

"Me neither," she says.

They both look at each other and at the same time, they call for Ben.

He comes running out of the house and Bianca starts laughing at him.

"What do you guys want?" he asks, looking slightly mad.

"We're hungry, but..." Riley starts.

"But neither of us want to move," finishes Bianca.

"Well, that's your problem," he says and starts to walk back to the house.

"Ben! Pleeeeease," Bianca pleads, giving him puppy-dog eyes.

Ben heaves a heavy sigh.

"Alright."

He walks back towards the 2, but walks behind them.

Riley and Bianca exchange worried looks and follow Ben with their gaze.

He goes around to the back of the swing and dumps them off.

Bianca and Riley land in a heap on the porch. Bianca hits her head on the floor and her feet get tangled up with Riley's. Riley's head, unfortunately (**A/N: **_or fortunately, depending on how you want to look at it ;P_), lands on Bianca's stomach.

Ben, on the other hand, is laughing his head off and has to hold onto the swing for support.

"Go ahead, Ben. Laugh it up. Just watch your back from now on," Bianca threatens, glaring at him and rubbing her head. Her head hurt a lot, so she put it back down on the floor and holds a hand to it.

Riley gets off of Bianca and sits next to her.

"Are you alright?" he asks her.

"My head..." she groans, closing her eyes.

Riley throws the blanket over her and lies next to her, propped up on one elbow, and placing a hand on each side of her head. He massages her temples with his middle fingers.

Ben stops laughing when he realizes what Riley is doing.

"You alright, Bianca?" Ben asks seriously sitting on the other side of Bianca, opposite Riley.

"I think so, just a headache now," she says opening her eyes. She looks from Riley to Ben.

Riley stops massaging and smiles at her.

"Common. Let's get you guys inside...and fed," says Ben helping Bianca to her feet.

Ben starts walking back to the house and Bianca helps Riley get up.

* * *

**A/N: **_More to come..._  



	33. Stupid Newspaper Articles

**A/N: **_Sorry this took so long...I was lazy, and was working other stories._

_I'll say it again ('cause I haven't said it for a while) I own nothing, but Bianca and anything else not from the movie._

_

* * *

_"We should change your bandages also, Bianca," Ben calls over his shoulder.

"Okay, dad," Bianca mumbles sarcastically.

Riley lets out a laugh and throws an arm over Bianca's shoulders. She puts an arm around his waist and they follow Ben into the house.

Ben continues through the house and into the bathroom to get bandages and Advil for Bianca.

Riley and Bianca go into the kitchen and join Patrick and Abigail, who had been in there since 7:00. Patrick was reading a newspaper and Abigail was sipping some coffee

"Where have you 2 been?" Patrick asks as he sees them walk in and sit down.

"Out back," says Riley.

"Getting my brains scrambled by Ben," Bianca mumbles.

Riley and Bianca take seats across the table from Patrick and Abigail.

Ben comes back a few moments later with more bandages and hands Bianca a bottle of Advil.

"Oh, goody," she says, both words dripping with sarcasm.

She takes an Advil with some water, then carefully takes off the old bandages.

"This is looking good," says Ben looking at her knee, "This isn't too bad either," he continues, looking at her shoulder.

"I guess Ian didn't do too bad of a job then, eh?" she asks.

"Ian cleaned these?" Ben asks, as he places clean bandages on her.

"Just my knee. That one was bleeding like there was no tomorrow, at the time," explains Bianca.

"I guess he wasn't _all_ bad," Riley says, stressing 'all'.

"Yeah, _you_ didn't have to spend the night in a car with him...and he wasn't hitting on you...nor did he kiss you," Bianca says philosophically.

Abigail raises an eyebrow.

"He kissed you?" she asks.

"Yeah...don't wanna talk about it...bad taste in my mouth," says Bianca making a face.

"Completely understandable," Abigail says.

"Okay, you're good now," says Ben throwing away the old bandages and going making some food.

"Good, now how 'bout some food? Riley's stomach keeps getting louder," Bianca says, pointing a thumb at him.

"Excuse me for being hungry," says Riley.

Patrick rolls his eyes and goes back to reading his paper.

"Pancakes alright?" Abigail asks, getting up from the table and helping Ben.

"Perfect," Bianca and Riley say at the same time.

They eat their breakfast and chill around the house until the food settled. It was a nice day, so everyone was out back on the porch. Abigail and Ben were on the swing. Bianca and Riley were going to sit on it, but Bianca didn't want to risk getting dumped off of it again. They joined Patrick sitting at the table.

An hour or so after eating, Bianca feels that she and Riley should leave.

"Riley, can we go soon? I would like to get everything out of the van before midnight," she says quietly to him.

"Yeah, just give me an hour for a nap," he says getting up.

"Fine, but no longer than an hour. I'll be timing you," Bianca says with a smirk

Riley kisses her forehead and goes back in the house to plop down on a couch.

Bianca doesn't know what to do with herself. Then she gets an idea.

"Hey, Mr. Gates, are you done with the newspaper?" she asks Patrick.

"Bianca, you don't have to call me Mr. Gates. You can call me by my first name," he says.

"Yeah, but it just won't feel right," she says.

"Okay...yes I'm done with the paper. And no, I didn't do the crossword puzzle," he says smiling.

"Excellent," says Bianca going in the house to get the paper.

She sits down at the kitchen table and starts to complete all of the puzzles.

A half an hour later, Bianca finishes the puzzles. She didn't know what else to do, so she actually reads the paper.

On the front page, she sees a picture of the Declaration and a headline above it that reads:

_"Stolen and Returned: The Declaration of Independence"_

She reads the article. (**A/N: **_Crappy title, I know. I couldn't think of anything better._)

'Shit,' she thinks, 'we're mentioned in here too. Soon enough, the whole country's going to know...'

Bianca was so lost in her thoughts, she didn't hear Ben come into the house.

"Bianca? Hello? Are you in there?" Ben asks waving a hand in front of Bianca's face.

"What? Yeah, I'm good," she says coming out of her daze.

Ben sits down next to her, with a drink in each hand.

"Are you alright? You seem kinda...out of it," Ben says passing her a glass.

"Thanks. I'm fine. Really...it's just, everyone's going to know what we did. I mean, look at this headline," she says holding up the paper, "It makes us seem like criminals. The article mentions nothing about finding treasure either. Damn reporters."

"Well, that's life and life isn't fair. When they give you lemons, make lemonade. Do you need any more examples?" Ben says.

"Nah, I get it. 2 clichés are enough," says Bianca.

Ben grins, letting out a laugh in the process.

"I thought you and Riley would have wanted to leave by now," Ben says.

"Yeah, I wanted to leave, but the lug wanted to take a nap before we left," she explains, rolling her eyes, "So I'm giving him an hour...scratch that; 15 minutes," she finishes looking at her watch.

"Ahh...so now what are you going to do for those 15 minutes?" he asks.

"I don't know. Possibly skim some articles in this crappy newspaper," she says shaking the paper.

"Well, have fun with that and let us know when you guys leave. We'll be out back," Ben says getting up and going towards the back door.

"Yes, sir," she says mock saluting him again.

Ben shakes his head, grinning and goes out back.

Bianca goes back to getting mad at the paper and the 15 minutes fly by. She takes another look at her watch and gets up from the table.

She goes into the living room, where Riley was napping on the couch with the green fleece blanket on him. She sits down on the floor next to the couch and stares at him, then shakes him awake.

"Riley, it's been an hour. Time to get up," she says softly to him.

"5 more minutes," he mumbles.

"Oh, no. I already waited an hour. I wanna go soon," she says standing up.

"Aww, common, just 5," he mumbles again.

Bianca sighs and goes to the end of the couch. She grabs a hold of the edge of the blanket and pulls it completely off of Riley.

Riley shivers and pulls his knees closer to his chest.

"Alright, alright, you win," he says opening his eyes a little bit.

Bianca plasters a smug grin on her face.

"Good...now just stand up and we'll be good to go," she says pulling his feet off of the couch.

"You really want to get out of here don't you?" Riley inquires.

"It's not that I don't want to stay here with them, but I really don't want to have to worry about leaving my stuff in a van in Philadelphia," she says taking Riley's hands and helping him to his feet.

"What makes you think it'll be safer in D.C.?"

"It won't be in a van in D.C., now come on," Bianca says tugging at his sleeve like a child.

"Hang on. I want something first," Riley says taking Bianca's hand and pulling her back to him, with a sly grin on his face.

"And what would that be, oh great one?" she asks rolling her eyes and grinning also.

Riley leans in a gives Bianca a kiss, but not just any kiss...a kiss that's full of passion and love.

Bianca kisses him back and puts her arms around his neck. He puts his arms around her waist and holds her close to him.

A minute later, they pull back and rest their foreheads together.

Bianca sighs.

"We should really get going, you know," Bianca says.

"Yeah, I know," Riley replies quietly.

They reluctantly let go of each other and go out back to find everyone else.

"I guess we'll be heading out," Riley says once they get outside.

Ben and Abigail stand from the swing and walk over to them. Patrick stands from his chair and also walks over.

Ben gives Bianca a hug and Riley a hand shake, Abigail hugs both of them, and Patrick does the same thing Ben did.

Ben walks Bianca and Riley out to the van.

Riley gets in the driver's seat after another hand shake from Ben and Bianca gives him another hug.

"Hope to see you soon, Ben," Bianca says pulling away.

She looks him in the eyes.

"I can't believe I lost my best friend to a girl," she teases with a grin.

"I can't believe I lost my best friend to a guy," Ben says with the same grin.

Bianca laughs and walks to the other side of the van and gets in.

Riley had rolled down the window and Ben leans on the frame.

"Take care...of each other," says Ben.

"Will do, chief," Riley says and looks to Bianca.

Riley starts the van and Ben steps back.

Bianca and Riley pull away from the curb and head back to D.C.

* * *

**A/N: **_That was pretty crappy at times...oh, well, I wrote this a while ago, so there's bound to be some flaws_  



	34. Riley's Apartment

They reach D.C. in record time. Bianca had fallen asleep (as usual), so she doesn't know where they are.

Riley pulls the van up to an apartment complex. He turns off the ignition and turns to Bianca.

'She always manages to fall asleep...' he thinks looking her over.

Her head is tilled on her left shoulder and some of her hair had fallen in her face.

Riley reaches over to move the hair. Before he does, she stirs a bit and opens her eyes.

"Are we there?" she asks groggily and squinting from the light.

"Yeah, we're here," he says softly, leaning over and kissing her forehead.

Bianca smiles up at him and stretches; hitting her knuckles on the window.

"Ouch," she says quietly.

"What?" Riley asks.

He was getting out of the van, so he didn't see her hit it.

"Oh, nothing. Just hit the window," she says also getting out of the van.

Bianca grabs the bag that under her feet in the front seat and follows Riley into the building. They go up 6 flights of stairs to the third and top floor of the building. Riley takes a key out of his pocket and unlocks the door.

Bianca looks around the place from the doorway. It was pretty close to the same set up as her apartment. The only exception was that every room was about twice the size as hers were.

"Gosh, what do you do again? Work for the FBI or something? This place is huge," Bianca asks placing her bag by the door.

"No, not the FBI. I'm a computer programmer," says Riley with a laugh.

"Any side jobs or anything like that? This place is twice the size as my place was," Bianca says.

"You said that already," Riley points out.

"Yeah, I know, just trying the get that through my head," she says with a smile. "Do you mind if we get my mattress up here right away? I don't feel comfortable with it on the roof of the van in D.C."

"Sure, why not. We can put it against the wall in my room for now," he says walking towards the door.

Bianca follows him to the door and closes it behind her. Riley was just about to go down the stairs.

"Riley, wait," Bianca says just before he hits the first step.

"What?" he asks, stepping back on the landing.

"Let's race," she says, her eyes going wide.

"Down to the van?" Riley inquires.

"Yeah, you're not afraid of losing are you?" Bianca teases, lining up on the landing with him.

"You're such a child, you know that?" he says smirking at her.

"Yeah, I know...but you love it," she says with a grin.

"Alright, I'll race," Riley gives in.

"Okay, on 3," Bianca starts, "1...2...You're shoe's untied," she says, pointing to his shoes and Riley looks down at his shoes, "3!"

Bianca gets a head start and flies down the first set of stairs and completely jumps through all of the next by the time Riley gets moving. Bianca is laughing the whole way down.

By the time Bianca reaches the last set of stairs, she takes a look behind her and sees Riley only half a set behind her; with a look of determination on his face. She looks back ahead of her and takes a step at the same time. She skids on the step and almost falls down the rest of the set, but quickly regains balance, just as Riley was coming up behind her. Bianca sticks out her arm to keep Riley behind her, and hits the last step. She sprints out of the door and straight to the side of the van; Riley right next to her.

They hit the van at the same time.

"I...think...we tied," Riley spits out in between gulps of air.

"I think we did too," Bianca says swallowing saliva and rewetting her dry throat, "Let's get this thing up there."

"Lemme...catch my...breath first," Riley says doubled over still getting air.

"You're out of shape, mister. We should work out a few days a week," Bianca says rubbing his back.

Riley lets out a laugh.

"Riiiiight," he says sarcastically.

Bianca rolls her eyes.

"You think I'm joking, don't you?" she asks with her hands on her hips.

"No, of course not," Riley says sarcastically, standing upright again.

Bianca shakes her head and opens the sliding door of the van to stand on the edge, so she can start taking the bungee cords off of the mattress and roof.

Riley grins and goes over to the other side to take the bungee cords off on the driver's side.

Riley gets his bungees off before Bianca does. She has one left before Riley yells to her.

"I'm gonna flip the mattress. Catch it and hold it 'til I get over there, okay?" he says.

"Wait! I have one more to get off," Bianca says jumping up.

"Alright, hurry up," he says.

Bianca gives a frustrated sigh as she snaps the last bungee off in Riley's direction.

"Oww," he says rubbing his head.

"Sorry, it slipped," she says in a monotone voice, with a grin.

"Yeah, yeah, just catch this thing," he says tilting the mattress up.

"Let 'er rip," says Bianca at the ready.

Riley flips the mattress and Bianca catches it, but looses her balance on the edge of the van. She falls back to the sidewalk, getting her right foot stuck on the van in the process. She lets out something between a grunt and a scream. The mattress falls down on top of her.

"Riley! Help!" she screams, mostly muffled by the mattress.

Tears of pain sting the corners of her eyes. She can hear Riley's footsteps coming closer.

"Oh, shit," Riley says when he reaches the other side.

He quickly pulls the mattress off of Bianca and throws it to the sidewalk. He kneels down beside her and holds her head up.

"I'm so sorry, are you alright?" he asks nervously.

* * *

**A/N: **_Another crappy chapter by your's truly. I'll try to have more out sooner than before..._  



	35. Broken Bones and Promises

**A/N: **_Sorry for the delay..._

_

* * *

_"It's alright and I think I'm okay...I have a feeling I broke my ankle, though," she says trying to smile, but failing miserably. (**A/N: **_I've never broken anything besides my finger (which is now deformed a bit) and my pinky toe, so I don't know what a broken bone feels like...but I have tried to break my leg just for the crutches. ;P_)

"Okay, just hold still," Riley says slowly lowering her head back to the ground and moving to her foot which was still stuck on the van.

He delicately moves her foot, so it's easier to get her up.

Bianca winces a bit from the pain and Riley keeps taking glances at her to make sure she won't pass out or anything like that.

"We have to get you to the hospital," Riley says freeing her foot and carefully placing it on the sidewalk.

"Why me?" Bianca asks herself, looking up to the sky, "But what about the mattress?"

"We can either leave it here and get you another one if it's taken, or I can get some help from up stairs," Riley says sitting next to her.

"Well, I really like that thing, so get some help...please," she says.

"Okay, let's get you into the van first," Riley says, picking up Bianca carefully and setting her in the front seat of the van, "I'll be back in 2 minutes."

Riley gives Bianca a kiss on the cheek and goes back into the building.

When Riley's out of sight, Bianca wipes away the tears that escaped her eye sockets.

He comes back 2 minutes later, just like he said, with some other dude. The 2 guys take the mattress up the 6 flights of stairs and place it inside Riley's apartment.

Riley comes bounding back down the stairs and out to the van.

"I'm back. Ready?" he asks getting into the van and starting it up.

"I guess," Bianca says quietly, "Who was that guy?" she asks a little louder.

"That was my next door neighbor, Owen. He's also a good friend and we went to school together...and we work at the same place," Riley explains.

"Oh," Bianca says simply.

About 17 minutes later, they pull up to the hospital. Riley wants to carry Bianca in, but she insists that she can hobble perfectly well.

* * *

When they get inside, Bianca goes over to the waiting area. Riley talks to the receptionist. Luckily, for them, the emergency room wasn't too busy that day. 

"My friend over there has, what we think is, a broken ankle," Riley says to the receptionist.

"All right, what's her name?" she asks.

"Lewis. Bianca Lewis," he says.

"Okay," the receptionist says, "A doctor will be out shortly to help you."

She smiles warmly at Riley.

"Uh, thanks," he says and goes to sit with Bianca.

* * *

Bianca sees Riley coming back over. 

"Well, how long do we have to sit here?" she asks him as he takes the seat next to her.

"Not too long...I hope. She said 'someone would be out shortly'," he says rolling his eyes.

Bianca suppresses a laugh.

"What?" Riley asks, looking at her.

"I'm rubbing off on you," she says with a grin, "You just rolled your eyes. I don't think I've seen you do that before."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" he questions with a raised eyebrow.

"I guess it's a good thing," Bianca says with the same grin.

She leans towards him and gives him a kiss.

"I'm so sorry about this," Riley says after they pull apart.

"About what? My ankle? Riley, common. Over the past few weeks I've been shot in the arm, scraped my knee, and got a gash in my forehead. Oh, and all that disgusting Ian stuff," she says pointing to the injured parts and making another face when mentioning Ian.

"Yeah, but none of that was really my fault. This," he says indicating her ankle, "was my fault."

"Riley, don't beat yourself up about this. People break stuff everyday...I'm just part of that majority now," she says shrugging.

"That still doesn't make me feel better, you know. I'll make it up to you somehow," he promises.

"Fine," Bianca says sighing, rolling her eyes.

2 minutes pass by the time a doctor comes in the waiting area.

"Okay...Bianca Lewis," he says reading the clipboard he was holding.

"That's me," says Bianca cheerfully.

She gets up from the chair.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Riley asks her.

"Nah, I think I'll be okay," she says to him with a genuine smile.

She pats Riley on the shoulder before she hobbles over to the doctor.

"You alright hopping like that?" the doctor asks.

"Yes, I'll be okay," she says.

"Okay, I'm Dr. House. Let's go down to exam 2," he says walking down the hall. (**A/N: **_This House is _not _the same House from the TV show. I just thought it would be funny to make him have the same name, but it's not the same person...just wanted to clear that up._)

Bianca takes another look back to Riley before she follows Dr. House. She smiles at him. He flashes a smile back and nods his head.

Dr. House stops by a door and turns to wait for Bianca.

"In here please," he says kindly holding the door open.

Bianca hops in and sits in the first chair she sees, exhaling with relief.

"Well, you think you have a broken ankle, huh?" Dr. House asks.

"Uh, yeah...considering the way it's bent," she says looking at her foot.

Dr. House looks towards her foot.

"Does it hurt?" he asks.

'What a dumb question...' Bianca thinks.

"Yeah, but not as bad as it did," she says.

He writes down her answers to his questions.

"And how long ago did this happen?"

"I would say about...20 minutes or so," Bianca replies looking up at the clock on the wall.

"Okay, we need to take you up to the third floor for some X-rays," says Dr. House, "Would you like to continue hobbling or would you like a wheelchair?"

"How about some crutches. I don't think I need a wheelchair; I'm not in that much pain," Bianca says contorting her face.

"Suit yourself," he says and takes some crutches out from behind the door.

Dr. House adjusts the height on the crutches so they'll fit Bianca more comfortably. They go out of the examine room to the nearest elevator. Dr. House grabs a nurse and they head up to the radiology department.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the waiting area, Riley is deep in thought about how he's going to 'make it up' to Bianca. 

'What if I paid for the house?...no, no, no she'd never let me do that no matter how much I argue with her...A ring? That might be a possibility. She can't argue with me because of a ring...What about a car...' Riley continues this internal struggle with himself for a while.

He was so deep in thought, he didn't realize that he had started to chew on his finger nails. Nor did he realize that he was bouncing his knee.

* * *

Bianca, Dr. House, and the nurse finish up in radiology and head back down to exam room 2. 

"We just have to wait a few minutes for them to develop the X-rays, dear," says the nurse walking out of the room.

'Dear?' Bianca thinks raising an eyebrow.

Dr. House rolls his eyes at the nurse.

"She calls everyone that, don't worry. Would you like your friend to come back and keep you company?" he asks.

"Yes, of course," she replies quietly.

"All right. I'll be right back," Dr. House says and turns to go out the door.

"Riley," Bianca says to him.

"Sorry?" Dr. House says turning back towards her.

"His name's Riley," she repeats.

"Riley. Okay, we'll be back," he says with a smile and leaves the room.

'That guy's too nice to be a doctor,' Bianca thinks, grinning, as she waits for them to return.

* * *

**A/N: **_More to come..._  



	36. Ouch!

Riley was STILL biting his nails and bouncing his knee, by the time the doctor came back into the waiting area.

"Riley?" the doctor asks.

Riley was immediately pulled out of his thoughts.

"Yeah?" he says stopping all of his motions and looks up at the doctor.

"Would you come with me please?" the doctor asks nodding in the direction Bianca went.

"Uh, sure," Riley says getting up from the chair he was in and walking up to the doctor.

"I'm Dr. House, Riley. Relax...you look a bit tense. Bianca's all right," Dr. House reassures Riley, shaking his hand.

"Oh, I wasn't worried. I was just thinking...you see, we've been through a lot in the past few weeks," Riley starts to explain as they walk down the hall.

"Really? Just the 2 of you?" Dr. House asks with a smug smirk.

"No. There were many other people involved also. Oh, you didn't happen to see her knee and shoulder did you?" Riley asks stopping in the middle of the hall.

"No. Why? Should I have?" Dr. House looks confused.

"Not necessarily. I guess she would have said something..." Riley trails off.

Dr. House gives a skeptical look, but doesn't force the matter and continues to walk the few more feet to the room.

* * *

Bianca was sitting on the hard, cold table in exam 2, staring at the medical cabinet in the corner and the many posters that lined the walls, when the door suddenly opens, startling her. 

Dr. House was the one who opened the door, but Riley was the one to burst in and goes directly over to Bianca. He gives her a hug that practically knocks her over.

Bianca laughs and throws her arms around his neck, hugging him back. She places a kiss on his cheek as well.

"Jeez, Riley it was only a few minutes. You're acting as like we've been apart for years," Bianca whispers to him.

Riley shrugs and grabs onto Bianca's hand, giving it a light squeeze.

Bianca takes a glance over to Dr. House and notices that he is grinning at the 2 of them. Her cheeks go slightly pink.

Riley looks in the direction Bianca was looking and he goes slightly pink in the cheeks as well.

Dr. House was just about to leave the exam room, when a nurse comes in with the radiology results.

"Dr. House, here are the results," the nurse says and leaves the room.

"Well, shall we take a look at these?" he asks Riley and Bianca.

"Sure," says Bianca.

Dr. House walks over to the X-ray viewer and puts an X-ray up.

Riley cringes at the way the bone in Bianca's ankle is broken.

"Oh that's just lovely," Bianca mumbles sarcastically, squinting at the X-ray.

Riley takes a sideways glance at her, smirking.

"We're going to have to align the bones and cast it in place. And to be completely honest, it's gonna hurt," Dr. House says.

"Again, oh joy," she says, dramatically rolling her eyes.

"Yes, well, would you like to get it over with?" Dr. House asks.

"I guess," Bianca says, worry clearly written on her face.

The nurse, who called Bianca 'dear' and brought the X-rays to Dr. House, comes back in the room with another nurse and things to set and cast Bianca's ankle. Bianca is told to sit back on the table so her foot was sitting on the top.

The 'dear' nurse helps Dr. House with the ankle/leg areas.

"Nurse, could you get her arms?" Dr. House asks the other nurse.

Bianca quickly grabs on to Riley's hand and doesn't let go.

"Just the one arm then," Dr. House corrects himself, noticing that Bianca wasn't going to let Riley leave, "Okay, on 3 I'm going to put your ankle back into place. Ready?"

Bianca nods and squeezes Riley's hand for dear life. She leans back against the table and stares at the ceiling.

"Here we go...1...2...3," Dr. House counts and quickly turns Bianca's ankle back into place.

Bianca's eyes grow wide and she lets out a groan of pain, but no screams. The nurses let go of Bianca, but Riley keeps a hold of her hand. Bianca starts breathing heavily as she looks down at her ankle. It seems to look all right.

"You all right?" Dr. House asks looking up at her.

"Yeah...I think so," she replies letting go of Riley's hand and propping herself up on her elbows.

The nurses put a plaster cast on Bianca's ankle.

"What color would you like the cast to be, dear?" the 'dear' nurse asks Bianca.

"I get to choose?" Bianca retorts.

"Of course," the 'dear' nurse smiles.

"Well, in that case...do you have neon green?" Bianca asks.

"Sure," the other nurse says and bustles around getting the neon green casting material.

The nurses (and Dr. House) place the casting on her leg. The cast goes from her knee to just behind her toes.

* * *

Riley and Bianca soon leave the hospital (Dr. House and the nurses giving Bianca plenty of tips on how to take care of the cast and such); Bianca's ankle is now encased in a neon green cast. She hobbles out of the hospital bay doors on crutches and Riley brings the van around so she doesn't have to hop too far. 

Once back at Riley's apartment, Bianca tries to maneuver the stairs on crutches, while Riley brings a few boxes up to the apartment at the same time.

Bianca wanted to help, but Riley told her to sit in the apartment while he got Owen to help again. She felt bad about having some guy she never met carry her things up to the apartment.

Owen is about the same height as Ben. He has the whole surfer dude look going for him, with light brown hair and gray, soulful eyes. He wears casual dress, yet it's a sophisticated look.

While the guys were bringing up her boxes, she went digging through one of the boxes and found a pair of sweatpants and a tank top. She found the bathroom and changed into the comfortable clothes.

Once the last of the boxes were brought up, Riley and Owen were sweating profusely and partially out of breath.

* * *

**A/N: **_I'll have more soon..._

_On an extra note: I have another National Treasure fict up (if anyone hasn't noticed). It's (dare I say) Ian centered, but it's fun none the less..._


	37. Meeting Owen

**A/N: **_Sorry, it took so long...technical problems...and laziness._

_

* * *

_"I would get you guys something to drink, but I don't know where anything is," she says as the guys join her at the kitchen table.

"Just stay there, I'll get it. You want anything Owen?" Riley asks.

"Sure, water would be fine," Owen replies.

"Bianca, you want anything?" Riley then asks her.

"Nah, I'm good," she says smiling.

"So you're Bianca?" Owen asks.

Bianca turns her attention away from Riley to Owen.

"Yeah, I guess," she says.

"Riley's mentioned you a few times," he says, "through our e-mails."

"So that's partially why you're always on a computer," she says to Riley, then turns back to Owen, "Nothing bad I hope."

"Nope, not bad. All of it was good," he says with a smile, "We haven't formally met. I'm Owen Katz, old friend of the nerd," he says extending his hand.

"I'm Bianca Lewis, new friend of the nerd," she says shaking his hand.

"Hey!" Riley says from the sink. (**A/N: **_Word of advice: don't drink D.C. tap water!_)

Bianca stifles a laugh.

Riley comes back from the sink, hands Owen a glass of water, and takes a seat next to Bianca. He puts his arm on the back of her chair.

Owen gives Riley a skeptical look. He shakes his head and takes a drink, grinning into his glass.

After a few minutes of sitting in the kitchen (Riley telling Owen all about their 'journey'), Bianca starts to nod off.

Owen sees her head starting to bob; trying to keep herself awake.

"I guess I should be going," he says quietly nodding in Bianca's direction.

"Ah, right. It's been a tough day...few weeks actually," says Riley looking at her, "She's been shot at, kidnapped, scraped knees, had forehead gashes, and now a broken ankle because of me."

"Don't beat yourself about it, Riley. She seems tough and after what you've both been through, I'm sure it wasn't all that bad," says Owen standing up from his chair.

Riley stands up as well and walks his friend to the door.

"I'm going to do something for her, Owen," Riley whispers as they stand out in the hall temporarily, "I was thinking a ring or (cough) a car (cough) or something like that."

"A car? That might be going a bit too far. A ring sounds better," Owen says.

Riley shuffles his feet.

"Well, why don't you save the (cough) car (cough) for something more, I don't know, special? Like Christmas, or her birthday?" Owen suggests, coughing like Riley did mentioning the car.

"Yeah, okay. That doesn't sound as extreme," Riley concludes.

"There, now you just have to find a ring and get her ring size," Owen says clapping a hand on Riley's shoulder.

"Yeah, thanks..." Riley's thoughts drift off.

Owen grins and pats Riley on the back before going into his own apartment across the hall.

Riley sighs before going back into his apartment.

When he walks in, he sees Bianca still sitting at the table; her head in her arms. He goes over to her and gently shakes her awake enough so she can get out of the chair. Riley pulls her chair out for her and he helps her stand up. Between her being tired and her ankle, she wouldn't make it to the bed. (Riley's bed. Bianca's is still sitting propped up against the wall near the front door.) He picks her up bridal style and she wraps her arms around his neck; resting her head on his chest. Riley carries her to his bedroom and gently places her on the bed. He places one of his many blankets over her to keep her warm and he goes back into the living room, closing the bedroom door behind him.

When he was far enough away from the door he takes out his cell phone and looks at the time.

'It's only 11:00. I'm sure Ben's still up...' he thinks bringing Ben's cell number up on the phone.

The phone rings 3 times before Ben picks it up.

"Hello, Riley. What do you want?" Ben asks from the other end.

"Hi, Ben. I just wanted to, uh, ask for your, uh, help," Riley stutters.

"Help with what? You're not ready to find a house yet are you?" Ben jokes.

"No, not yet. I want to get something for Bianca, but I can't just ask her about it. It would seem suspicious," he explains.

"Why would you want to get something for her? You don't seem like the type to just buy gifts for girls," Ben still jokes.

"Well, I kinda, sorta, uh, assisted-in-the-breaking-of-her-ankle," Riley says very fast.

"You WHAT?" Ben practically screams into the phone.

Riley pulls his phone away from his head and winces a bit.

"Ben! Ben! Calm down she's all right! We went to the hospital and everything is fine," Riley explains, trying to calm Ben down.

"I'm coming over there," Ben says semi-angrily.

"No, Ben! Don't! She's sleeping. It's been a long day," Riley says with a force he never knew he had, "Now, are you going to help me or not?"

"Fine, I won't come over...tonight. Now," Ben sighs, "what do you need help with?"

"Okay, as I was saying, I want to get Bianca a ring, but I don't know what size she wears. Maybe you could come up with something to get her to tell you the size," Riley says calming down.

"I'll think of something, Riley, but if Abigail and I stop by sometime tomorrow, don't be surprised," Ben warns.

"All right, I won't...Thanks Ben," he says.

"Yeah, yeah."

And with a click, Ben hangs up his phone.

Riley hits the 'end' button on his phone and turns it off for the night. He sets it on the kitchen counter and goes to change for the night.

When Riley gets out of the bathroom, he carefully slides into the bed next to Bianca. He throws an arm over her waist. She turns to face him and snuggles in. Riley falls asleep peacefully, without worry.

* * *

**A/N: **_That was all lame...so, sorry. More winthin minutes._  



	38. Monty Python!

The next morning, (Saturday) Bianca wakes up to find that she is the only one in the bed. She gets up and out of the bed, thinking maybe Riley was in the kitchen or something. She grabs one of her crutches and leaves the bedroom. Looking around the apartment, she couldn't find him. A noise came from out in the hall, so she went to investigate. Owen was out getting a newspaper.

"Hi Owen," Bianca says, stepping out of the apartment

"Hey, Bianca," he replies with a smile.

"Have you seen Riley this morning?" she asks.

"No...have you checked the roof?" he asks back.

Bianca shakes her head. "Why the roof?"

"He goes up there sometimes to clear his head," Owen explains.

"Uh, how do I get up there?" Bianca asks shyly.

He points in the opposite direction of the apartment's main stairs to a beat up old door.

"Just go up those stairs," he says.

"Thanks Owen," she says with a smile.

"You gonna need any help?" Owen asks.

"Nah, I'm okay. I'm a big girl...I can even tie my own shoes, well shoe for now," Bianca jokes, still smiling.

"All right, just be careful," he says with a laugh.

"Aye, aye," she says.

Bianca closes the door to the apartment and goes to the door that leads to the roof.

Behind her back, Owen was smirking an all-knowing smirk and goes back into his apartment.

Bianca reaches the top of the 2 flights of stairs. Panting slightly from hopping up, she opens the door to look for Riley. She leans against the door to catch her breath.

"Riley," she calls out softly.

A few ticks of a non-existent clock go by.

"Bianca?" comes a confused, yet curious voice from the other side of the roof.

Bianca hobbles over and sees Riley sitting on the ground with his back against the air conditioning system for the apartments. He starts to get up.

"No, stay down," she says sternly to him.

"But I can help," he protests.

"I don't need your help right now. I'll let you know when I do," she says leaning against the system.

She kicks her casted leg out and slides down to sit next to Riley.

"What are you doing up here?" she asks, looking at him.

"Just...thinking," he says with a sigh, looking up to the sky.

"Well, now I know where to find you if you ever disappear on me," Bianca says with a grin.

"How'd you find me in the first place?" he asks, looking at her.

"Owen told me," she says simply, still with a grin.

Riley nods and puts an arm around Bianca's shoulders.

"Oh, Ben and Abigail might be stopping by some time today," he says nonchalantly.

"Why? Did you tell him about my ankle?" she asks pulling away from him slightly.

"Yes, but it wasn't my intention. I had to call him for another reason and it, just sorta came out," he explains.

Bianca sighs. "Did he say when?"

"Nah, and frankly, I don't care," Riley replies.

Bianca grins and rests her head on his shoulder as he puts his head on top of hers. They sit like that until the roof started to get hot from the sun beating down on it.

Riley offered to carry Bianca back down to the apartment, but she waved him off.

Back down in the apartment, they decide to have breakfast, but neither of them want to make anything, so they have classic cereal. (Cheerios, because it's the only thing Riley had.)

After breakfast, they crash on the couch for a while and watch TV.

"Do you have any permanent markers?" Bianca asks during a commercial break.

"Uh, I might," Riley replies getting off of the couch and going into the bedroom.

Bianca can hear him shuffling through drawers and moving papers around.

He comes back out a minute later, holding a blue Sharpie.

"I found one," he says triumphantly.

"Good...now sign my cast," Bianca says sticking her leg in the air.

"What?" Riley inquires.

"You will sign my cast," Bianca says slowly with hand gestures, "And no writing that your sorry."

Riley rolls his eyes and sits in front of the couch to sign the cast.

When he's done he looks up at Bianca.

"Happy now?" he asks sarcastically.

"Yes, very," she says with a smug grin.

Riley rolls his eyes again and sets the Sharpie on the coffee table. He goes to sit on the couch again when Bianca gets up. She hops over to the window, crosses her arms and legs, and leans against the wall. She stares at the street down below.

"Something wrong?" Riley asks from the couch.

"No...just needed to stand up," Bianca answers looking at him.

Riley nods and looks back at the TV.

Bianca hops over to Riley's DVD collection and gasps.

"What?" Riley asks.

"You have the 16-ton Monty Python's Flying Circus Mega set!" she shrieks.

"Yeah...are you kidding? Who doesn't have it?" he scoffs.

"Uh, me," Bianca replies, "And you have the Python movies?"

Riley nods.

"Riley, I love you," she says in awe.

"Do you mean that?" he asks boldly, raising an eyebrow at her.

Bianca faces him and hobbles over to him, kneeling in front of him on the couch.

"I mean it," she whispers, grinning.

Riley's eyes get big and he leans down and kisses Bianca, cupping her face in his hands.

When they pull away, Bianca goes back to the DVD collection and takes out Holy Grail.

"We are so watching this right now," she says.

"All right...shall we invite Owen over? He likes Python, too," Riley states.

"Sure, why not?" she replies.

Riley gets off of the couch and over to Owen's apartment to invite him. Bianca takes the disk out of the box and places it in the player, then hops back to the couch and sits in the exact middle of it, propping her feet up on the coffee table; she waits for Riley, and hopefully Owen, to come back.

Seconds later, Riley and Owen come into the apartment. Riley flops down on the left side of Bianca and Owen is on her right.

Riley was about to start the movie, when Bianca makes him wait.

"Owen, would you like to sign my cast?" she asks him.

"Sure, got a pen?" he asks.

"Yeah, on the coffee table some where," Riley says pointing to the table where Bianca's feet were.

Owen looks for the Sharpie and finds it underneath a piece of paper. He takes the cap off the marker and signs Bianca's cast opposite where Riley signed.

When he was done, Bianca looked down to see what he wrote:

_Owen Katz: Old Friend of the Nerd, New Friend of the Nerd's Girlfriend_

Bianca notices his creative, curly handwriting and laughs at what he wrote, remembering their introductions the night before.

Riley reads what he wrote also, saying a 'Hey!' when he got to the nerd part, then goes pink in the cheeks when he reads the rest.

Bianca laughs at him, then kisses him on the cheek, making him become an even pinker color.

Owen starts laughing at this point also.

"All right, all right, let's start this movie," Bianca says, rubbing her hands together, after the laughter subsided.

"I second that," Owen says looking to Riley, who was holding the remote.

"Okay, okay. No death glares," he jokes and starts the movie.

* * *

**A/N: **_Gimme a 'Huzzah!' for Monty Python! Love those guys!_

_More soon, and I'll try not to take forever with them... _


	39. Ben's Arrival

**A/N: **_I figured I get something out before I go out of town for the next 2 days..._

_

* * *

_"You don't frighten us, English pig dogs! Go and boil your bottoms, you sons of a silly person! I blow my nose at you, so-called "ArthurKing," you and all your silly English K-nig-hts!" The 3 shout at the same time along with the movie.

They break out into fits of laughter.

Later in the movie when it came to the part of the bridge keeper, Bianca took the role of the Bridge keeper and the guys took turns with Sir Lancelot, Sir Robin, Galahad, and King Arthur. They all use phony English accents and try desperately not to laugh throughout the whole thing.

Right at the part where the word 'intermission' and the intermission music plays, a knock is heard on the door to the apartment.

"Who in bloody hell could that be?" Owen asks still in the fake accent.

Riley pauses the movie, gets off the couch and goes to answer the door.

"I have an idea..." Bianca says quietly.

Both she and Owen kneel on the couch and look over the back, to the door.

Riley looks back at his friends and then opens the door.

"Hi, Ben and Abigail," Riley says loud enough for the other 2 to hear.

"Hi, Riley," Ben replies.

"Hi," Abigail says.

"Uh, come in," Riley says stepping to the side and closes the door behind them.

Ben looks around the apartment quickly.

"Hey, Ben," Bianca says cheerfully from the couch.

"Hi, Bianca. How's your ankle?" he asks.

"It's fine...check it out. Neon green," she smiles, getting off the couch and sticking her leg out to show Ben.

"Nice," he says.

"I know," she says back.

"Oh, how stupid of me...Ben, Abigail, meet my friend and neighbor Owen Katz," Riley says pointing to Owen, who was still kneeling on the couch.

Owen then gets off the couch and walks over to Ben and Abigail. He shakes their hands with 'hello's' and a smile.

Silence followed.

"Now that we're all acquainted, could we get back to the movie please?" Bianca asks, going back to her seat on the couch.

Riley goes back to his seat on the couch.

Owen hesitates.

"Would either of you like to sit?" he asks politely to Ben and Abigail.

"Nah, we're good, but thanks," Abigail replies.

Owen retakes his seat and Abigail and Ben lean on the back on the couch; Ben puts his arm over Abigail's shoulders.

The 5 finish the remaining 10 minutes of the movie. Owen, Bianca, and Riley shout quotes 1 more time, when Arthur and Bedevere talk to the French solider again. All 5 laugh at their quoting.

When the movie was over, Riley offered everyone something to drink. The guys went into the kitchen, while Bianca held Abigail back.

"Could you sign my cast, Abigail?" she asks her.

"Sure," she replies with a smile.

* * *

In the kitchen, Ben talks to Riley. 

"I have an idea of how to get her ring size," he says quietly.

"Really? That's great," Riley exclaims.

Owen grins knowingly into his glass.

"I don't know when to bring it up though," Ben continues.

Abigail walks into the kitchen to join the guys.

"Ben, Bianca wants you to sign her cast," she says taking a seat at the table.

"Okay," he says and goes into the other room.

* * *

Ben sits down on the couch next to Bianca and picks up the Sharpie on the coffee table. 

"What have you been up to since...yesterday, Ben?" Bianca asks.

"Oh, nothing much, just the usual. You know, worrying about my 2 good friends and one's broken ankle," he says with a grin, signing the cast.

Bianca smiles and watches him write:

_Ben Gates—putting his friends lives (and his own) in danger for some 'dumb treasure'_

"Nice," Bianca says sarcastically, reading it.

"Eh," he shrugs.

Bianca rolls her eyes.

He then reads what Abigail wrote:

_Dr. Abigail Chaseglad another woman was dragged into this_

He grins, then looks up at Bianca.

* * *

**A/N: **_Sorry that was short...and kinda pointless...I think the next one's short also..._  



	40. All's Fair in Love and War

"I wanna ask you something," Ben says quietly looking back to the kitchen.

"Umm, okay...what?" she retorts.

"What size ring do you wear?" he asks.

"What?" she asks, raising an eyebrow.

"I want to get Abigail a ring as a thank you for putting up with us and the whole taking her with us deal. You 2 have about the same hand size," Ben explains.

"Uh, I think I'm close to a 5," she says still not too sure why he's asking this. She doesn't believe his excuse.

"Thanks...want to get something to drink?" he asks her standing from the couch.

"Sure would," she says.

Ben helps her off the couch and they walk into the kitchen and join the rest at the table. It's a good thing Riley had enough chairs.

Bianca was closest to the sink, so she reaches back and grabs a glass that was sitting on the counter.

"Is this clean?" she turns back and asks Riley.

"Should be," he replies.

Bianca nods and reaches back to fill it up with water.

Ben helps himself to a glass also, then takes a seat next to Abigail.

Ben, Abigail, and Owen get involved in a conversation; basically Ben and Abigail shooting questions at Owen to get to know him.

After their conversation, Ben and Abigail decide that they should leave.

"We have some stuff to do. I'll be checking in from time to time," Ben says as he and Abigail head to the door.

Bianca, Riley, and Owen stand up. Bianca gives Ben and Abigail a hug, and Riley and Owen shake their hands.

"Oh, Bianca. Give me a call when you feel up to start working, okay?" Abigail says to Bianca before she leaves.

"Not a problem," Bianca replies with a smile.

Bianca goes back to the couch, where she put her feet up on the coffee table and goes through the Monty Python special features.

* * *

Riley opens the door and Ben and Abigail step out. Ben turns back to Riley. 

"Size 5," he says simply, quietly.

Riley nods in understanding.

"I guess we'll see you around then, huh?" Riley asks louder.

"Yeah," Ben replies, then he and Abigail leave after shouting a goodbye to Bianca.

"Size 5?" Owen asks quietly once Riley closes the door.

"Yeah, remember the whole ring thing?" Riley replies.

"Oh," Owen states louder, by accident, "I better get going. I have some stuff to take care of."

"Well, have fun doing that," Riley says.

"I'll try..see you later Bianca," Owen says to the back of the couch.

Bianca kneels on the couch to look back at him.

"Okay, have fun," she says with a smirk

Owen nods and rolls his eyes and leaves the apartment to go back to his own.

* * *

Bianca turns back around on the couch and sits, continuing to play with the special features on the DVD. 

Riley walks over to her and takes a seat on the couch next to her, throwing an arm around her shoulders.

They spend the remainder of the day watching various movies and television programs. For dinner that night, they decide to have a pizza delivered to them from a little place right down the street.

After their pizza and soda, Riley goes back to the couch and stretches out. Bianca cleans her plate and sets it next to the sink to dry.

"I'm going to take a shower, okay?" she says as she grabs a plastic bag and some duct tape to keep her cast dry in the water and walks towards her stuff to get some pajamas.

"Mmhmm," Riley mumbles.

Bianca sighs and rolls her eyes. She sets down the plastic and duct tape and picks up the first thing she see in the bedroom (which happened to be a sock), then she throws it at Riley.

"Hey!" Riley says and tosses it back at her.

Bianca ducks, easily missing his attempt to hit her back.

"Ha!" she grins.

Riley slowly gets up from the couch grinning evilly and walks towards Bianca.

Bianca's triumphant grin falls and she tries to walk backwards away from the grinning Riley. He grabs her elbows with the same smirk plastered on his face and maneuvers her towards the bed. When the back of her knees hit the edge, she falls back. Riley lets go of her elbows and places his hands on either side of her head, then he leans over her.

"That wasn't very nice," he whispers with the smirk still playing on his lips.

"All's fair in love and war," she whispers back with a grin to match his own.

Riley raises an eyebrow, then leans down and gives her a kiss.

Bianca found herself melting into this kiss. There is something about it that is different from all the other times they've kissed. She snakes her arms up around his neck and he puts his left arm under her back. He lifts her off of the bed. They are now in a standing position and Riley wraps both of his arms tightly around her waist.

Bianca pulls back after a minute or so.

"I didn't think you were that strong," Bianca comments, resting her forehead against his.

"Evidently there's a lot we don't seem to know about each other," he replies.

"Well, we'll just have to fix that one of these days then, huh?" she grins, then gives him another kiss.

"I guess so," he states.

Bianca slowly lets her arms slide off from around Riley's neck and he releases the grip he had on her waist.

"I'm going to take a shower now, alright?" Bianca says going to pick up the plastic bag and tape.

"Fine," Riley sighs dramatically.

Bianca rolls her eyes and chucks the plastic and tape into the bathroom, then gets her sweatpants and tank top, going back into the bathroom and closing the door behind her.

* * *

**A/N: **_WOOO! Check it out! 40! Hot damn!...more soon!_  



	41. It Is A Gift

**A/N: **_Woo! It's been a few days...okay, so it was a little longer than that. Whatever._

_If there are any mistakes in this chapter (and the next), I'm sorry. I have a hockey tournament this weekend, and tomorrow is the championship game, and I had 2 games today...I'm a wee bit tired and need sleep.  
Check out our standings (if you want, that is) at My team is the Lehigh Valley Wicked under the Women's C Division. _

_

* * *

_Bianca emerges from the bathroom about 45 minutes later. She finds Riley dressed in his pajamas and in bed, watching a movie on the television.

"It's about time you came out," he states.

Bianca rolls her eyes in reply and puts her dirty clothes in a bag near some of her stuff, then takes the duct tape back out to the kitchen, where she found it. She then gets into the bed next to Riley, curling up into his side.

Riley puts his arm behind her head and wraps it around her shoulder. Bianca throws an arm over his chest.

After the movie was over, Riley turns off the television and they fall asleep.

* * *

The next morning Bianca wakes up to find that she is yet again, the only one in the bed. She stretches and gets up and hops out into the kitchen. She finds Riley sitting at the table, with a cup of coffee and the newspaper. 

"What? You can't wait for me to wake up before you leave me there?" she asks sitting down at the table across from him.

"I normally wouldn't leave you, but I have a bunch of stuff to do today," he replies setting down the paper and taking a sip of coffee.

"Really? And what's that?" she asks taking the cup from him, and also taking a sip.

"Uhh, food shopping and stuff along those lines," he says nervously, avoiding her gaze.

"Mmhmm," she says skeptically, "You're up to something aren't you?"

"Me? No," he says in mock shock.

"Right," she says not believing a word of it, but doesn't press the matter.

Once Riley finishes with his coffee (Bianca handed the cup back after she took a sip) and reading of the newspaper, he goes into the bedroom to change. When he reemerges, he's sporting a pair of jeans and a t-shirt with his blue, zip-up hoodie over it.

"I'll be back in a few hours," he announces going for the front door, "You want anything?"

Bianca looks up from the newspaper she started to read when Riley left the table.

"Nah, just get whatever. It doesn't matter to me," she replies with a smile.

"Alright," he smiles back, "You can keep yourself entertained that long without breaking anything right?"

Bianca glares at him.

"Don't you trust me?" she asks faking anger.

"Of course I do, just...don't break anything," Riley replies and goes out of the apartment.

* * *

Riley's POV

Riley walks out of his apartment and sighs. He walks across the hallway to Owen's apartment, knocking lightly on the door. Owen answers it in record time.

"Riley, what's up?" he asks.

"I could use your help for an hour or so," Riley states.

"With what?" Owen asks skeptically.

"I'm going out to get some...'stuff' and could really use some assistance," he explains.

Owen grins. He crosses his arms over his chest and leans against the door frame.

"This 'stuff' wouldn't have anything to do with a certain someone, would it?" he asks still grinning.

Riley sighs, getting annoyed.

"Yes, now are you going to help me or not?" he asks desperately.

"Yeah, I'll help, just let me get my shoes on," Owen says and goes back into his apartment to fetch his shoes.

The 2 go down the stairs and hop into Owen's green Saturn.

"Where to, chief?" Owen asks starting the engine.

"Somewhere where I can get a ring," Riley states staring straight ahead.

Owen laughs and they drive off in search of a jeweler's.

After coming out of the jewelry store, with Riley's credit card bill now a bit higher, they get back in Owen's car and go to a grocery store to get some food for their apartments...and so Bianca didn't suspect anything.

* * *

Back at their apartments, Riley thanks Owen for his help and they go into their own apartments. Riley opens the door to his apartment quietly and finds Bianca on the couch watching a random movie she must have found in his vast collection. He believes the movie is Animal House, but he admits to himself that it's been a while since he's seen it. 

Riley closes the door just as quietly and places the bag of groceries on the kitchen table.

"It's about time you got back," Bianca says kneeling on the couch, looking in Riley's direction.

"Sorry, Owen couldn't find a decent parking spot," he lies.

"Owen?"

"Yeah, he needed some food, too, so we took his car," Riley explains.

"Ah...so what'd you get?" she inquires.

"Oh, just little things we might need at some point," he says, putting away the frozen and refrigerated stuff.

"Right," Bianca says and goes back to her movie.

* * *

Back to Bianca's POV

Bianca returned to the last couple minutes of Animal House. It wasn't as good as she thought it would have been. She was about to get off of the couch when Riley plops down next to her, grinning madly.

"What?" she asks him with a laugh.

"I have something for you," he states simply.

Bianca looks at him quizzically.

Riley takes a small, wrapped box out of his pocket and hands it to her.

She looks from the box, to Riley, and back to the box; a look of utter bewilderment clearly written on her face.

"Open it," Riley practically whispers.

Bianca complies and slowly begins to unwrap the little box. She opens the lid to the box, and pulls out a black, velvet, hinged box. Being a woman, she obviously knows what it is. She gasps slightly and opens the hinged box. She gasps even louder and brings a hand to her mouth when she opens the box to reveal a gorgeous ring embedded with emeralds and diamonds.

Bianca's eyes grow wide and she slowly brings her hand away from her mouth.

"Oh my god, Riley..." she starts, flabbergasted.

"Do you like it?" he asks, his grin faltering slightly.

She looks up at him.

"Yes, it's beautiful," she says and throws her arms around Riley in a hug.

Riley smiles, hugging her back, and turns his head to kiss her cheek.

"I'm glad," he whispers in her ear, sending a chill down Bianca's spine.

"But why?" Bianca asks after they pull away.

"It is a gift," Riley says, "That and I felt bad about that."

He points to Bianca's broken ankle.

"I told you not to worry about," she says.

"No, you said not to beat myself up about it," he replies smartly.

Bianca rolls her eyes. She takes the ring out of the box and slips it on her right ring finger. She's surprised he got the right size.

"Riley, how did you know my..." she pauses and continues slowly, realizing just how he figured it out, "ring size?...You asked Ben to ask me didn't you?"

Riley smiles cheekily and nods. "In so many words, yes."

Bianca sighs, but with a smile.

* * *

**A/N: **_More soon..._  



	42. Of Cars And Vans

Two weeks goes by and Bianca and Riley decide that they should start looking for a house. Bianca is getting fed up with the stairs up to Riley's apartment. They call Ben and he says he'd be at the apartment around lunchtime, then they would go house hunting.

Ben and Abigail get to the apartment just when Ben said they would and the 4 go searching.

Bianca and Riley find a nice, big house on the edge of the busy city. It's just big enough so that they can both have their space, but also be near each other.

Ben and Abigail found a place the week before and plan to move in sometime soon.

Bianca and Abigail are outside in the backyard of the house Bianca and Riley want. Bianca wants to strike up a conversation.

"Hey, Abigail?" she starts.

"Yeah," Abigail replies.

"I think I'm ready to start working," she says.

Abigail smiles. "Good."

The next week, Bianca started working at the Archives with Abigail. Her first day was just to get used to everything and all that jazz. Her main job was to sort papers and help out whenever she is needed.

* * *

About a month later, Bianca and Riley are settled into their house, while Ben and Abigail are comfortably settled in their mansion. Bianca's cast came off the week before. Even though she liked Dr. House, she really didn't want to have to see him again. 

Bianca has gotten bumped up in her positioning at the Archives. She now gets to be a tour guide for Italian tourists. Even though there's not that much to explain about America's historical documents, she still explains their uses.

Bianca was on her way home one day, when she decides to stop by a car dealership...just to look. Or so she thinks.

She walks around the lot looking at all of the different cars of every make and model. Then she sees it. The one car she's had her eyes on since she knew she could afford it. A MINI Cooper. She walks into the showroom and talks to one of the dealers.

When she seals the deal, she goes out into the lot and inspects her new 'baby'. The MINI Cooper is a light blue, with a white roof and white side mirrors.

She takes the keys from the dealer and, with a smile on her face, she thanks him. She gets into the car and starts it up. She laughs as she turns on the radio and drives home.

As she pulls into the driveway of her and Riley's house, she sees Riley standing the driveway, washing the infamous red van.

Riley stares at the MINI that is driving up the driveway. He drops the hose and walks slowly towards it. When it stops about 10 feet away from him, the engine is cut off and the driver gets out.

Bianca jumps out of the car and throws her arms up in the air.

"Well, what do you think?" she asks walking up to Riley.

Riley's still staring at the car.

"Hey! Hello, earth to Riley," Bianca says waving a hand in front of his face.

He shakes his head slightly.

"You bought a car?" he asks.

"Yeah, why not? I always wanted a Coop," she says standing next to him and looking at the car also.

"But you bought a car," Riley says again in disbelief.

"Yes, we've been through this already," Bianca says, "Get a grip."

She then proceeds to smack his arm.

"Come on. I'll help you clean this thing," she says, indicating the van with her thumb.

"Right," Riley says finally tearing his eyes away from the MINI.

"Just don't get my car wet," Bianca warns as Riley picks up the hose again.

Riley grins mischievously.

"What'll you do if I get your car wet?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't even think about it," she threatens with a stern voice from the opposite side of the van.

"Why?" he teases aiming the hose at the MINI.

Bianca scrambles to Riley's side of the van. Just as she reaches Riley, he turns on the hose for a split second in the direction of the MINI.

"No!" Bianca screams and runs over to Riley. She snatches the hose from him.

"I told you not to get it wet," she says to him.

"It's gonna rain eventually, you know," he retorts.

"Yeah, but that's besides the point," she says.

She looks down at the bucket filled with soap and sponges.

"You better run, Riley," she says, bending down to the bucket.

"Why's that?" he laughs, then turn to her.

His smile immediately disappears as his eyes get wide. He runs to the other side of the van, just as Bianca picks a soaking wet, soapy sponge out from the bucket.

She runs the opposite way, so she can sneak up on him.

On the other side, Riley was watching the way he came, waiting for Bianca to show up. His back was to where she really was. Bianca slowly walks up to him and taps him on the shoulder, then she throws the sponge in his face and runs back to the other side of the van, where she climbs up to get onto the roof of the van. She watches in silent giggles as Riley runs around the van looking for her. He picks up the hose and stands at the back, where he climbs on the back.

"Did you just giggle?" he asks Bianca, aiming the hose at her.

Bianca shakes her head, trying to suppress the laughter.

"Uh, huh," Riley replies and turns on the hose, hitting Bianca square in the chest.

Bianca goes sliding down the windshield and lands on her back on the hood of the van.

"Riley Poole!" She yells.

Riley takes that as his cue to jump off the back of the van, drop the hose, and run around to the back of the house.

Bianca climbs off of the hood and chases him.

She catches up to him along the side of the house. Once they hit the back of the house, right before the patio, Bianca leaps at Riley and they both go crashing to the ground. They roll on the soft, green grass until they come to a stop. Bianca crawls on top of Riley and tries her best to look menacing. Evidently it didn't work because Riley started cracking up.

"What?" Bianca says with no hint of anger in her voice at all.

"You try to hard," was his reply in between fits of laughter.

"Ugh," she groans and rolls her eyes and climbs off and onto the grass next to him.

She stretches her arms out and stares at the slow moving clouds in the sky.

Riley moves so now he is hovering over Bianca.

"What now?" she asks, yet again, rolling her eyes.

"Nothing, but I win," he says.

Riley then leans down and gives Bianca a kiss.

"No, you don't...I win," she replies and rolls Riley off of her.

She runs back to the front of the house and grabs the hose and the now rewetted sponge. She puts the hose in her left hand ready to turn it on and holds the sponge in her right, ready to throw it. She watches both sides of the house, so Riley doesn't sneak up on her. She finds him running from the same direction she ran from.

"Stop right there," she says, "or you get it."

Riley stops in his tracks and puts his hands in the air.

"Say it," Bianca says.

"Say what?"

"Say I win and you loose," Bianca elaborates.

Riley sighs.

"Fine. I loose and you win...happy?" he says.

Bianca grins oddly and throws the sponge at him, then turns on the hose to hit his chest.

"Yes, much happier," she says and puts the hose on the ground.

Riley throws the sponge back at her, hitting her lower back.

Bianca turns around and sticks her tongue out at him. Riley pokes his out in retaliation.

"Come on, let's clean this beast so I can change," Bianca says.

"Alright, but no more water fights," he says.

"Okay," she sighs.

They kiss to seal the deal.

* * *

**A/N:**_ Yea! I'll have more...later. Right now, I'm sleepy...(head falls on keyboard). ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ..._  



	43. Uh Oh

**A/N: **_Sorry if these keep getting crappier...writer's block sucks..._

_Disclaimer: I only own Bianca, and where ever the story goes from here_

_

* * *

_**A week later**

At the Archives, Bianca has just finished with an Italian tour group and was now checking one of the glass cases near the edge of the room. She had her back to the rest of the room.

"Hello, Bianca," comes a voice from behind her.

She freezes. She knows that voice and was hoping to never hear it again.

She turns around slowly, to come face to face with...Ian.

"Ian," she breathes, "What...?How...?"

Ian just grins.

"You're supposed to be in jail," Bianca whispers to herself.

Bianca starts to go for her walkie-talkie to call for help, but Ian stops her.

"I was in jail, but I was also released," he explains.

"Released! So you can steal something else?" she whispers harshly as to not attract attention.

Bianca rips her arm out of Ian's grip.

"No, I'm through with that line of business. It wasn't getting me anywhere," he says, still grinning.

Bianca looks at him strangely.

"Then why are you here?" she asks.

"I'm here for a few reasons, but the main reason is to make amends with you, Ben, Abigail, and Riley," he says sincerely.

"Make amends?" Bianca asks very confused.

"Yes, it means to make things right," Ian says.

"I know what it means, it's just...you're the one saying it," she says honestly.

Ian raises an eyebrow at her.

"I think I need to sit down," Bianca says.

And she slides down against the wall to sit on the floor.

Ian crouches next to her.

"Are you alright?" he asks.

"I think so...just...you're really through with," she pauses, "that lifestyle?"

"Yes," he says.

"Alright...what are you going to do now?" Bianca asks.

Ian shrugs.

Bianca gets off of the floor.

"I have some things I have to do," she says, starting to walk away.

Ian grabs her arm to stop her.

Bianca looks down at his hand.

"Wait, Bianca," he says.

"Yeah?" she asks.

"Would you, uh, like to, uh, have dinner some time?" he asks with a hopeful look on his face.

"Oh, Ian...I'm, I'm seeing someone," she says gently.

"Oh...of course," he says releasing her arm, "May I ask who?"

Bianca looks at the floor.

"Uh, Riley," she says quiet and fast, hoping he wouldn't hear.

"Riley? You mean nerdy-techie Riley? That..." Ian says.

"Ian!" Bianca says, stopping him.

"Sorry," he mumbles.

Bianca looks at him.

"Look, maybe sometime, a bunch of us can go out and do...stuff, for a lack of a better word," Bianca suggests.

Ian thinks for a moment.

"Alright, sure," he says.

Bianca nods and starts to walk away again.

"Oh, Bianca, one more thing..." Ian says.

"Yeah," she sighs.

"Tell Ben...I'm sorry."

She turns her head slightly to look at Ian over her shoulder.

"Sure, I'll tell him," she replies and continues walking.

As soon as Bianca was around the corner, she sprints to Abigail's office. She reaches the office and tells Abigail's secretary that she has something extremely important to tell Abigail. The secretary knocks on Abigail's door and goes in.

"Dr. Chase, Miss Lewis is here and she says she has something really important to tell you," Bianca hears the secretary say to Abigail.

The door opens again, and the secretary comes out.

"Go ahead, Miss Lewis," she says.

"Thanks...and how many times do I have to tell you to call me Bianca," Bianca says with a smile.

"Right. Sorry, Bianca," the secretary replies, with a grin.

"It's okay."

Bianca walks into the office and closes the door behind her.

Abigail rises from her chair.

"What is it, Bianca?" she asks.

"Oh, nothing much really...just saw Ian out in the display room," Bianca says calmly.

"What!" Abigail shouts, "I'm calling security."

She goes to pick up the phone.

"No really, Abigail, it's fine. He left," Bianca says holding up her hands.

Abigail takes her hand off of the phone.

"What was he doing here?" she asks, sitting back down in her chair.

Bianca sits in one of the chairs in front of the desk.

"He wanted to make amends..." Bianca starts to say.

Abigail wants to say something, but Bianca keeps going.

"He was released from jail and came to apologize. And...he wants to be friends with us," Bianca says the last part hesitantly.

"Friends? Bianca, Ian's not the type to just stop being a criminal and become a friend. And you believe him?" Abigail asks.

"Yeah, to a point, I believe him," Bianca says honestly.

Abigail sighs and reclines in her chair.

"Look, Abigail, I'll talk to Ben about it, okay?" Bianca tries to reason with Abigail.

"Alright, fine," she sighs again.

"Great, where is he?" Bianca asks and stands from her chair.


	44. Visiting Ben

"He's at the house..." Abigail starts to say.

"You mean the 'mansion'?" Bianca asks with a grin.

Abigail sighs dramatically.

"Yes, the mansion," she says with a smile.

"Alright, I guess I'll see you later then," Bianca says going to the door.

"You can't leave yet, though, you still have work to do," Abigail says.

"Actually, all my work is done. I just had to do that last tour group and I'm free...so off I go," with that, Bianca leaves Abigail's office.

Bianca says goodbye to Abigail's secretary and heads to her car to take the drive over to Ben's estate.

She drives the car up the long, pebble driveway, and parks her car near the front door. She gets out and walks up to the door, admiring the grounds as she does. She rings the doorbell, and about a minute later, an out of breath Ben opens the door.

"Hey, Ben...did you just run through the house to get the door?" Bianca asks with a smirk.

"I was in the study upstairs, but yes, I did run through the house to get the door," he says.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were working," he asks with a raised eyebrow.

"I was working, but finished everything. I have something I need to talk to you about...mind if I come in?" she asks quietly.

"Yeah, sure," he says standing aside to let her him.

Bianca walks in and stops in the foyer to look around the mansion. It is the first time she's been in the house since Ben and Abigail have unpacked their things.

"Wow," she mutters.

Ben walks past her and into the large kitchen.

"Want a drink or something?" Ben's voice echoes through to her.

Ben's voice brings Bianca out of her temporary state of shock.

"Uh, sure. What do you have?" she asks walking into the kitchen.

"What do you want?" he counters with a grin.

"Do you have lemonade?"

Ben pulls out a pitcher from the refrigerator.

"I guess so," Bianca says with a laugh, sitting down at the island in the middle of the kitchen.

"Now, what did you want to talk to me about?" Ben asks getting straight to the point.

He takes a glass out of the cabinet and fills it with the lemonade, then hands the glass to Bianca, who takes a large gulp before speaking. Ben takes a drink of his own beverage.

"I already talked to Abigail about this, so don't even think about calling her..." Bianca starts.

"Okay," Ben replies.

"Well, I was at the Archives, doing one of my tours. When I finished, I went to inspect the glass..." she pauses, taking another drink.

"Out with it, Bianca," Ben says, noting her procrastination.

"Right, well..." she starts to play with the ring on her right ring finger; the ring Riley gave her.

"...Well, Ian was released from jail and wants to make amends and be friends," she says really fast, not meeting Ben's gaze.

Several moments of silence go by before Bianca finally looks up at Ben. He looks deep in thought.

"Ben?" she asks quietly, cautiously.

"Ian's out of jail?" he asks, looking up at her.

"Yes," she answers.

"He escaped?"

"No, he was released. He didn't say why."

"He talked to you?"

"Yes," she replies with a sigh.

"Is that all he did?"

"Yes," she says slowly.

"He wants to make amends and forget the past?"

"Well, I don't know about forgetting the past, but he definitely wants to make amends."

"Friends?"

"I would think that..." Bianca starts, then seeing the look Ben was giving her, she elaborates, "He didn't come out and say it, but I think he does."

"Bianca, let's not assume anything here," Ben says ending his reign of questions.

"I'm not assuming, Ben. I'm...merely thinking," she says, still spinning the ring.

"One last question on this subject, then it gets dropped, okay?" Ben says.

Bianca nods in approval.

"Is he over you?"

Bianca snorts, thinking Ben was kidding, but then stops when she sees he isn't.

"Sort of...he asked me out for dinner, but I told him I couldn't because of Riley. He seemed a little depressed, but I think he'll get over it," Bianca explains.

"Okay...I guess we just have to wait it out," Ben says.

Bianca gives a half smile.

Silence follows, while they both finish off their drinks.

"I see Riley went through in getting you a ring," Ben states, pointing to Bianca's hand.

She laughs.

"Yeah, imagine that," she says looking at the ring, "And I'm sure you had a hand in it, finding out my ring size for him."

"That was the only thing I did," he says with a laugh.

They share a laugh before Bianca thinks of something else.

"Now, Ben, do I get a tour of this place or what?" she asks.

"Sure, follow me," Ben says, getting off of his chair.

After Ben shows Bianca the interior of the mansion, he shows her the grounds. He takes her over to a fountain near the edge of the grounds. He tells her what he plans on doing at the fountain in the near future.

Bianca looks at her watch and realizes that it is getting late, so the 2 head out to the front to her car.

"Nice wheels," Ben say, seeing Bianca's MINI for the first time.

"I like them, too. I needed a car to go with those sunglasses I bought in Philly," she says with a smile and a shrug.

Ben grins at her.

"I guess I'll be seeing you soon then, right? We should have Ian over for dinner some time," he says the last part sarcastically.

"I wouldn't mind, but Riley might get jealous," she jokes, poking him in the stomach.

Bianca gives Ben a hug, gets in her car, and drives home to Riley.

* * *

**A/N: **_There we go, another chapter down._

_Reviews would be nice, please...(no flames, please) _


	45. The House Isn't Big Enough

**A/N: **_Phew! It's been a while. I thought I'd update everything before my classes started again. What a way to end the summer, eh?_

_------------------------------------ _

Once Bianca gets home, she gets out of her car and walks into the house. After tossing her things on the floor near the door, she runs upstairs to her room to change her clothes. She then goes back down the stairs, smiling, and goes into the living room, where Bianca finds Riley reclined in one of the chairs, staring into the lit fireplace.

"Hey Riley," she says walking over to him and giving him a kiss on his cheek.

"Hey yourself," he replies flatly.

"Something wrong?" Bianca asks, her smile falling.

"You could say that," Riley says, turning his head to glare at her.

"Are you going to continue being cryptic or are you going to tell me what's going on?" she asks, sitting in the chair across the fire from him.

"Ben and Abigail called not too long ago," he states.

"You're still being cryptic," Bianca laughs shortly.

"Abigail told me that you had a run in with an old friend of ours."

"Oh, that..."

"Yeah, 'that'."

"How much did they tell you?" Bianca asks quietly, looking at her hands.

"Enough," Riley says angrily, getting up from the chair and starting to walk out of the room.

"Riley, what the hell's your problem?" she asks getting up from her chair also. She is now confused by his out of character actions.

"My problem? MY PROBLEM! Bianca, Ian doesn't want to be friends! He's a criminal! He just wants the treasure, our money, anything of value he can get his hands on!" Riley yells, crossing the room and standing directly in front of Bianca, only inches between them.

"You don't know that! Hell, even _I_ don't know that, but the look in his eyes said otherwise!" Bianca yells back.

"You're going by the look in his eyes? God, Bianca, he's good at deceiving! Look what happened when we let him go looking for the treasure with us," he says still pissed off and looking perturbed.

Bianca looks away from Riley's angry, penetrating gaze, and looks to the fire. She wrestles with her thoughts momentarily. When she comes to a conclusion, she looks directly into Riley's blue eyes.

"You know what, Riley? I think I need to give you some space, just to let yourself cool down and think about what you're saying. I'm going to say to you what I said to Ben: Yes, I believe Ian, to a point. I think he has changed," she says quietly.

With that, Bianca turns away from Riley and heads up the stairs to her room. She collects a few clothes and such and puts them in a backpack. She descends the stairs and goes to the front door. She picks up her work stuff and stops with her hand on the door knob, looking at Riley, who hadn't moved from his spot in the living room.

"I'll return when you believe me, cool down, and are willing to give things a chance. People change, Riley," she says quietly, tears starting to form in her eyes.

After she says this, Bianca opens the front door, and goes to her car. Once in it, she rests her head on the steering wheel and lets her tears silently run down her cheeks and onto the wheel.

When she regains her composure, she starts the car and drives out of the driveway. Not knowing where else to go, she heads back to Ben and Abigail's estate.

-----------------------------

Little does Bianca know that Riley is watching her. From the window, Riley see Bianca put her head on the steering wheel and not move for at least 5 minutes. Riley wanted so much to run out there and hold her in his arms, all while apologizing and telling her that he believes what she said. Unfortunately, his body couldn't allow him to move, her words repeating themselves in his head: _'I think I need to give you some space, just let yourself cool down and think about what you're saying...People change, Riley...'_

Riley sees her pull her head up and rub her face with her hands. She then starts the car and drives off.

Riley moves away from the window, and grabs a coaster (the closest thing to him). He throws the coaster as hard as he can into the next room where it hits the wall.

He then turns and kicks the nearest table. From there, he goes over the chair by the fire and puts his head in his hands.

"Oh Riley, what have you done?" he asks himself.

-----------------------------

Bianca drives up the driveway to Ben and Abigail's estate. She parks her car where it was only a mere hour ago. She gets out of the car, taking her things with her and goes to knock on the door.

Abigail answers the door quicker than Ben did earlier in day.

"Bianca, what are you doing here?" she asks.

Bianca, who was looking at her feet, looks up with a sad smile.

Abigail notices her tear stained face and puffy, red eyes.

"Oh, Bianca," she starts.

"I guess the house isn't big enough for this problem," Bianca says quietly.

"Come on in," Abigail says holding her hand out to Bianca.

Bianca graciously walks into the house and sets her things down near the door.

Abigail puts a comforting arm around her shoulders and guides her into the kitchen. They sit down at the table.

"What happened, Bianca?" Abigail asks.

"Riley didn't take the news of Ian too well," Bianca says quietly.

'I'm not going to cry. I've already done that,' Bianca thinks.

"What did he do?" Abigail inquires.

"He just yelled. Well, I yelled too, but that was after he did," Bianca explains.

Bianca then continues to tell Abigail of their fight.

After her retelling, Bianca laughs slightly.

"What's so funny?" Abigail asks.

"I just thought we'd have our first fight over something more important than whether Ian is friend or foe," Bianca says with a weak smile.

Abigail smiles.

"Well, you're welcome to stay as long as you like," she says.

"Thanks, but I'm only hoping to be here for a few days," Bianca says.

Just then, Ben comes into the kitchen in sweatpants, a muscle shirt, and dark blue slippers. He stops when he sees Bianca and Abigail sitting at the table.

"Bianca, what are you doing here?" he asks.

"Riley and I had, uh, a little fight," she explains, "I felt the need to give him space."

"Oh...are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"And Riley?"

"Him, I'm not too sure about," Bianca says quietly.

"Uh, huh," he says looking at Abigail, "Why don't you come watch some TV with us."

"Sure, I guess," she replies and walks with Ben and Abigail into the family room, where Ben had installed a large, flat screen television.

--------------------------------

**A/N:** _More to come...in mere seconds..._


	46. Time To Think

Ben and Abigail take up residence on the couch in front of the television, while Bianca takes up residence on the arm chair next to the couch.

Ben and Abigail start whispering things to each other after a few minutes. Bianca, not wanting to hear all the gross, mushy things they're saying to each other, gets off of the couch and wanders around the house.

She wanders up the stairs into the 'library'. She mindlessly walks around the room, looking at the books. She takes one off of the shelf and goes to sit in a chair in the corner of the room.

A couple of minutes pass and Bianca hears the front door open and close, then the sound of an engine starting. After the sound of the car disappears, the door to the 'library' opens and Abigail walks in.

"Are you sure you're alright, Bianca?" she asks, dragging a chair near her.

"I'm fine...really," Bianca replies, closing the book, "It's Riley I'm sort of worried about."

"Don't worry. Ben went over to your house to talk to him," Abigail says, putting a hand on Bianca's shoulder.

"He should have Owen meet him there...you know, for back-up," Bianca says.

"I'll call Ben and tell him," Abigail says and leaves the room to call him.

Bianca gets out of the chair and puts the book back on the shelf. She leaves the room and sits at the top of the stairs. She can hear Abigail talking to Ben on the phone.

When Abigail hangs up the phone, she goes back to the stairs to see Bianca sitting at the top.

"Would you like me to show you to a room?" Abigail asks.

"Sure," Bianca replies.

Abigail grabs Bianca's backpack and carries it up the stairs with her. She leads Bianca down the hall to a guest room.

"I guess we'll see you in the morning then," Abigail says.

"Yeah, sure," Bianca says flatly.

"Well, good night," Abigail announces, just before she leaves the room.

"Night...and thanks, Abigail," Bianca says with a slight smile.

Once Abigail leaves the room, Bianca turns and flops down face first on the bed. Before she falls asleep, she sets her travel alarm clock so she could wake up on time for work. After that is set, she returns her face in the pillow and drifts off to sleep.

-------------------------------

Ben receives a call from Abigail telling him to stop by and pick up Owen. She said it was Bianca's idea, and he could use some help, so Ben does that. He stops by Riley's old apartment building and knocks on Owen's door.

"Ben? What are you doing here?" Owen asks as he opens the door.

"Hi, Owen. There's a little problem I could use your help with," Ben explains.

"Sure, what is it?" Owen asks, balancing on one foot to put on his shoes.

"Bianca and Riley had a fight. I'm going over to talk to Riley, and might need some help to get through to him," Ben explains.

"Alright," says Owen, closing and locking his door, "What did they have a fight about?"

"I'll explain in the car," Ben says.

The two make their way down to the car and get in. Ben explains the situation to Owen as they drive to the house.

At the house, they get out of the car and ring the door bell.

Riley answers it only seconds after it rang.

"Ben, Owen. What are you guys doing here?" he asks the two standing on his porch.

"Can we come in?" Ben asks.

"Sure," Riley says and lets his two friends into the house.

"Have a seat," he says, motioning over to the still lit fireplace.

Ben and Owen sit in the chairs by the fire and Riley sits across from them.

"What brings you here?" Riley asks again.

"Bianca," Ben simply says.

"Oh," Riley says quietly, letting his head fall into his hands, "Is she...okay?"

"She's fine. She's more worried about you, Riley. Abigail's taking care of her," Ben says, trying to reassure him.

"It's all my fault. If I wouldn't have over-reacted, she'd still be here, and I wouldn't feel terrible," Riley moans.

"Well, do you believe her?" Owen asks.

"Her, yes. Ian, I'm not too sure of," Riley replies.

"Ahh, so you even believe Ian...just not as much as Bianca does," Owen states.

Riley cringes slightly.

"Uh, sure," he mumbles.

"There you go! Just tell that to Bianca, and say that you're sorry. Say you'll give it a chance. I know you, Riley, you will give it a chance," Owen says.

"Just think about how you want to bring this about. She'll listen to you. Give it a day or two and then go back to her," Ben adds.

Riley is silent for a few moments. He lifts his head up.

"Alright, I'll think on it," he says quietly.

"Good," Ben says and stands up, "I'm going to go home. Need a ride Owen?"

Owen looks to Riley, who shoos him with his hand.

"I guess so. See you later, Riley."

"Try to get some sleep," Ben says.

After Ben and Owen leave, Riley goes up to his room and flops on his bed to try to get some sleep.

------------------------------

**A/N:**_ Not sure when I'll have more...but I will. Possibly in a few short weeks._


	47. Girls' Night Out

_A/N: Oh, snap!!! It's been a little over 4 months since I last updated this! I'm EXTREMELY sorry. I really have no excuse...only that I've been lazy (if you want to take that as an excuse)._

_I hope everyone's Holidays were awesome to the max! I know mine was!  
_

* * *

Bianca wakes up the next day to the alarm clock. She feels cold, then finds no body is next to her, like normal. It takes her a moment to realize why and where she is. She brings a hand to her forehead and sighs deeply. Hitting the alarm clock, she slowly gets out of the bed. She changes her clothes into work attire.

She goes into the bathroom to brush her teeth and all that jazz. When she re-emerges, she leaves the guest room, and heads down to the kitchen.

Walking into the kitchen, Bianca sees Ben sitting at the kitchen table; a mug of coffee in one hand, and the newspaper in the other.

"Good morning," he says a little too chipper for Bianca's taste.

"'Good morning' is an oxymoron. Did you know that? There's no such thing as a morning that's good," she shoots back grumpily, plopping herself in the chair across the table from him.

Bianca crosses her arms on the table and lets her head slump down on them.

"Are you alright?" Ben asks, setting the paper down.

"Peachy," comes her muffled reply.

"Liar," Ben mumbles.

Bianca lifts her head slightly.

"Ya caught me red-handed," she grins.

"Coffee?" Ben asks, standing up from his chair.

"Oh, god, yes, please!" Bianca wails. "It better be strong."

"Abigail made it, so I would think so," Ben says, making a face, as he pours flavored creamer into his mug.

Ben comes back over to the table with his mug and a mug for Bianca, which he hands to her.

"Speaking of Abigail, where is she?" Bianca asks, taking a sip. "Oh, that's good," she says quietly into the mug.

Ben grins at her.

"Abigail's getting ready for work. She said she wants to drive you there," he explains.

Bianca looks up abruptly.

"What do you mean?" she asks, eyeing him.

"She wants to take you to work with her. I don't know why, so don't ask," he elaborates.

Bianca sighs.

"Okay, fine. Whatever," she gives up, and goes back to drinking the coffee.

A few minutes later, Abigail walks into the kitchen, dressed in her normal clothes for working in her office.

"Good morning, Bianca. Did you sleep well?" she asks, digging through a cabinet, and taking out a travel mug.

Bianca sighs and looks at Ben, who rolls his eyes.

"First of all: 'good morning' is an oxymoron. Secondly: I sorta slept well. And thirdly: why are you taking me to work?" Bianca declares in one breath.

Abigail stops pouring the coffee, and looks at Bianca. She then looks to Ben, who nods and leaves the kitchen.

"I thought after work, we could go have a night on the town. Just the two of us," Abigail says after Ben leaves.

"Really? You mean it?" Bianca says, her mood lightening dramatically.

"Yes. I think we could both use it," she continues.

"Hot damn!...Wait, what do you mean by we _both_ could use it?" Bianca asks.

"The Archives are really stressful right now," she says simply.

"Ah," Bianca sings.

Abigail continues to pour her coffee, then motions for Bianca to get ready. Both women pack a small bag with a change of clothes for after they get off of work.

Ben walks the two to the door.

Bianca goes down the stairs and waits for Abigail at the bottom.

Ben and Abigail share a kiss in the door frame. Bianca turns her back on them, thinking of Riley, and an odd pain shoots through her heart.

After a minute or so, Bianca turns back around to see them still kissing.

"Eww, do you mind? I think that's a bit too much public display of affection," Bianca says loudly to get their attention.

Ben and Abigail pull away from each other, and look down at Bianca, who had planted her hands on her hips. The two look at each other, say something unheard by Bianca, and Abigail walks down the stairs to Bianca.

"Sorry, about that," Abigail says quietly, unlocking the car doors.

"Yeah. Sure you are," Bianca mumbles with a smirk.

The two women get into the car, and drive to the Archives.

* * *

After a tiring day of work, Bianca goes to Abigail's office to meet her. Abigail's secretary lets Bianca into the office, while Abigail finishes up with a phone call. Bianca goes over to the side of Abigail's desk, where she placed their bags when they arrived. Bianca scribbles a note to Abigail saying that she's going to change, and slides it across the desk. Abigail nods and Bianca goes to change.

When Bianca comes back, Abigail is off the phone. Abigail then goes to change and when she comes back, the two leave the Archives.

"Where are we going?" Bianca asks as Abigail drives them around D.C.

"Just out for food, a little sightseeing, and of course, ice cream," Abigail says with a wide smile, and wagging her eyebrows.

Bianca laughs. "All right," she says in between fits of laughter.

Abigail drives them to a restaurant called H2O, along the southwest waterfront of the Potomac River. It seems expensive to Bianca, but then again, money was no problem anymore.

After dinner, they drive around to the monuments that Bianca hadn't seen yet, and also a few other places. They even go to see an IMAX at the Air and Space Museum.

After they leave the Air and Space Museum, they walk a few blocks to a Ben and Jerry's, where they get ice cream.

Once they have their fill of ice cream, Abigail and Bianca crawl back into the car and head back to the mansion.

Bianca says her good nights to Ben and Abigail, and goes up to her temporary room. Before she actually goes to her room, she stops by the library and takes a book. She goes to her room, and tosses the book on the night stand.

Feeling like she needs to do something else before reading and turning in for the night, she goes back downstairs and looks for Ben.

She finds Ben in the living room, in front of the lit fireplace.

"Hey, Ben. Do you have a laptop I can borrow for a little bit?" she asks walking up to stand in front of him.

"Yeah, sure. It's on the island in the kitchen," he says, smiling at her.

"Thanks," she replies and goes to fetch the laptop.

Bianca grabs the laptop off of the counter, and goes back up to the guest room, where she is staying. She plugs in the power source, then the phone jack. Opening the laptop, and turning it on, she checks her e-mail. Something she hasn't done for many days. She clears out all of the junk mail, then looks for anything from Riley.

Nothing.

Sighing, she closes the laptop, unplugs it, and sets it on the night stand.

She picks up the book and starts reading.

Bianca falls asleep an hour or two later, with the book still in her hands.

* * *

_A/N: Yea! One more down. I'll have three more up within the next few minutes, also, so no worries!_


	48. Surprise!

Bianca wakes up the next morning to the same cold feeling as the previous day. She slowly makes her way to the bathroom to get ready for work. After showering and getting dressed, she trudges down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Abigail is sitting at the kitchen table, eating her breakfast.

"Good mor..." Abigail starts to say than stops mid-sentence.

"Thanks you for not completing that," Bianca mumbles.

Bianca takes a seat across from Abigail after helping herself to a cup of coffee.

Almost as soon as she sits down, Ben comes into the kitchen, practically skipping.

"What are you so happy about?" Bianca asks.

"Oh, nothing," he grins, and takes a seat next to Abigail, kissing her forehead.

Bianca makes a face.

"Eww, something tells me I don't want to know," Bianca grumbles into her coffee cup.

Abigail's cheeks turn pink slightly.

"It's not what you're thinking," she explains quietly to Bianca.

"Oh, good, because I'd rather take my chances with an angry Riley, than have to deal with that," Bianca says sarcastically.

Ben and Abigail exchange a look.

"What?" Bianca asks.

"Nothing," they say at the same time.

"You know something. I can tell," Bianca says standing up from the table.

Neither of them responds.

"Fine. Keep your secret," Bianca grumbles than walks out of the kitchen to gather her things for work.

Abigail leaves the kitchen a few minutes after Bianca does. She spies Bianca standing by the front door, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Are we driving together or separately today?" Bianca asks.

"We can go together if you want. You can drive," Abigail smirks.

"Okay, sure," Bianca says and opens the door.

Bianca heard Ben approach from behind, so she goes to the car, not wanting a repeat of that odd feeling in her chest. She sits in the car and stares in the opposite of Ben and Abigail, until she hears the door open.

"Ready?" she asks Abigail, with no emotion.

"Ready," she replies with a smile.

Bianca keeps her gaze ahead of her as she drives to the Archives.

* * *

Bianca's day at the Archives would be a boring one. She heard that there would be a group of Italians visiting, so she would have to give them a tour. 

Abigail mentions that there is a meeting in the middle of the day, for most of the workers at the Archives. Bianca groans at Abigail in response to learning this.

"But those meetings are so boring," she whines.

"I know, but we have to have them," Abigail replies.

"All right, fine. What time?" Bianca sighs.

"11:30 in the normal room," Abigail says, then walks down the hall to her office.

"Right," Bianca breathes, then walks out to the display room, where her tourists are waiting.

After the tour, Bianca goes into the break room to get a drink and a snack before she slowly makes her way to the conference room. She looks at her watch, and realizes that she has a half an hour before the meeting would start, but she goes to the room anyway to get a seat where she feels comfortable. Taking a seat in the corner, she lets out a long sigh and munches on her snack.

Within a few minutes, more employees start to arrive; one of them being Abigail. She walks over to Bianca.

"How are you feeling?" she asks quietly.

"I'm okay. A little bummed, but I'm okay," Bianca replies, taking a swig of her drink.

Abigail nods and goes to her seat at the head of the table.

Once 11:30 rolls around and all of the needed employees show up, Abigail begins.

Bianca doesn't pay attention to a word that's said...she can just ask Abigail about anything later.

Half an hour of boring-ness goes by, and Bianca only has one thing on her mind at the moment: Riley. She's sitting in her chair, arms folded over her chest, and staring at the plastic bottle sitting on the table in front of her.

There is a sudden knock on the door and Abigail's secretary pokes her head through.

Abigail looks up with a smile slowly spreading across her face. This does not go unnoticed by Bianca.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but is there a Bianca Lewis here?" the secretary asks.

Bianca slowly raises her hand, looking completely perplexed.

"Ah, then these are for you," the secretary says, opening the door wider.

She walks into the room carrying a dozen, long-stemmed, red roses. She hands the roses to Bianca, who looks wide-eyed at the gorgeous bouquet in her hands.

Bianca turns her bewildered gaze to Abigail, who is all out smiling from ear to ear now.

All the eyes of her co-workers were also on her.

"Oh, and this came with it," the secretary continues, handing Bianca an envelope.

The secretary turns to leave, giving Abigail a nod of the head, which Abigail returns.

Bianca sets the roses gently down on the table, and with shaky hands, opens the envelope.

'Oh, please don't let them be from Ian...' she thinks, her brain going into over drive.

Taking the paper out of the envelope, Bianca unfolds the paper. Typed on the sheet of paper in a fancy font was:

_I need to talk to you. Meet me by the Declaration display._

It wasn't signed.

Bianca, with her mouth hanging open, looks up to Abigail. She is still smiling.

Abigail nods her head, and Bianca gives her an odd look, not shutting her mouth. Abigail rolls her eyes and tilts her head in the direction of the door.

Bianca shuts her mouth, understanding what she means.

"Excuse me," she says, standing from her chair, and walking to the door.

'I knew she was hiding something. Ben must be in on it too,' she thinks as she makes her way down the hall to the Display room.

Bianca stops at the end of the hall, when it opens up into the room. There, standing right next to the Declaration of Independence, is Riley holding another single, long-stemmed, pink rose. He is dressed in his gray suit and the Converse sneakers; Bianca just wants to laugh at his unique sense of fashion.

Her mouth drops open again as she slowly walks over to Riley.

When she is close enough to him, Riley holds the rose out to her. She delicately takes it from his hand, and looks up at him.

"I'm sorry," Riley says simply.

Bianca opens her mouth to speak, but closes it, as nothing was coming out.

"I did some thinking...you were right. I should give Ian a chance, and I do believe you. I was just..." he starts to explain.

"Stupid?" Bianca finishes, with a smirk.

"Not the word I was looking for, but I guess it'll do," he smiles. "And I do believe Ian...to an extent, but since you believe him, I'm willing to give him a chance."

Bianca smiles wide, and throws her arms around Riley's neck, almost hitting herself in the face with the rose.

Riley wraps his arms around Bianca's back and holds her tight.

"Thank you," Bianca whispers in his ear. "For giving Ian a chance and the roses."

She pulls back from him and gives him a quick kiss.

"Are you going to be coming back home now?" Riley asks hopefully, letting his hands rest on Bianca's hips.

"Yes, I'll be home tonight," she laughs, giving him a kiss on the cheek, and letting go of him.

"Good," he says, taking her hand in his as they walk back to the conference room at a leisurely pace.

"What took you so long to actually say that to me?" Bianca asks out of curiosity, taking a sideways glance at Riley.

"I, uh, had to make a few phone calls," he responds.

"Oh, really? Who'd you call?" she presses.

"Oh, just a few people: Ben, Abigail, Owen, the florist...Ian," he says casually.

Bianca stops.

"You actually called Ian?" she gapes at him.

"Yeah, I asked him for help. The single rose was his idea," he says, again, casually.

"Whose idea was the dozen?"

"Mine."

"Aww, thank you, Riley. I love them," Bianca says kissing his cheek again.

When they get back to the conference room, they hug and kiss one more time before Bianca goes back in.

"I'll see you later," Riley says as he gives Bianca's hand a little squeeze before letting it go.

Bianca nods and goes into the room. She mumbles a quick "sorry" and retakes her seat, where she places the pink rose in with the bouquet of red ones. She looks up at Abigail, makes eye contact with her, and discreetly brings her hand across her neck in an 'I'm going to kill you' gesture.

Abigail lets out a little laugh in the middle of her speech, and Bianca buries her face in her hands, blushing feverously.

After the meeting, Bianca and Abigail remain in their seats until everyone else clears out of the room.

"I'm so going to kill you and Ben as soon as I can," Bianca says as the last worker exits.

"No you won't," Abigail says walking over to her. "They're beautiful." She points to the roses.

"Yeah, they are," Bianca says absentmindedly.

"Come on. The day's almost over. Ben's going to call Riley soon. You two are going to have dinner at our house tonight," Abigail says wagging a finger at Bianca.

Bianca laughs. "All right," she says, putting her hands in front of her for defense.

The two woman finish out the rest of the day, and jump in Bianca's car to head back to the mansion.

When they get back to the house, Ben has already started making dinner. Riley is already there, sitting in front of the lit fireplace, staring into the flames.

Abigail goes into the kitchen to help Ben, and Bianca goes over to Riley.

"Hey," he says, looking up at Bianca from the chair he was in.

"Hey, yourself," she says, sitting on his lap, and wrapping her arms around his neck.

Riley secures her in place, by wrapping his arms around her waist.

The two share a passionate kiss, out of the way of prying eyes. Once they pull away from each other, they smile and Bianca rests her head on Riley's shoulder until they are called for dinner.

* * *

_A/N: More on the way!_


	49. Plans?

Bianca and Riley don't get to enjoy the peace very long, when Ben stands in the hallway telling them that dinner is ready.

Bianca reluctantly gets off of Riley's lap to stand up. She stretches as Riley himself get out of the chair. They then follow Ben into the kitchen, just as Abigail is setting the last plate on the table.

Bianca takes a seat against the wall, across from where Ben normally sits. Riley sits down on her left, across from Abigail.

"Do you want any help?" Bianca asks Ben and Abigail as they bring food to the table.

"Nope, there's not much to bring," says Ben.

Bianca nods and props her elbow up on the table as she places her head in her palm. Her other hand rests on her knee.

Riley discreetly reaches underneath the table to take a hold of Bianca's hand.

Bianca turns her head slightly, and gives him a small smile, which he returns.

After Ben and Abigail bring the food to the table, they sit and all four of them shovel food onto their plates.

All throughout dinner, they engage in conversation over anything that comes to their minds.

Once dinner (and dessert) is over, and the dishes put in the dishwasher, the four take mugs of coffee or tea, and move into the living room to sit around the still roaring fire; they continue with conversing.

After a while, Abigail says she's tired, so she goes up to bed...after saying good night to everyone, of course.

Once she is out of sight, and the door to the bedroom is heard being shut, Ben motions for Bianca and Riley to come closer to him.

"What Ben?" Bianca asks.

"I have a plan," he whispers quickly.

"Plan? Plan for what?" Riley whispers back.

Ben grins and looks at Bianca. Her eyes go wide and her mouth drops open.

"Ben, you have to tell me right now," she demands quietly, grinning.

"Tell you what? What's going on?" Riley says getting really frustrated.

Bianca sighs and whispers Ben's proposition in his ear.

"Ohhhh," he says, his eyes wide.

Bianca smiles and nods, then tells Ben to divulge his plans.

After everything is planned and ready to take place, Bianca runs up to the spare bedroom where her belongings are. She gathers everything together, and bounds back down the stairs. Ben and Riley are standing at the door, so Bianca drops her bags next to the door, and gives Ben a hug. Ben then turns to Riley and gives him a hand shake.

"Good job, Riley," Ben says, looking at Bianca.

Bianca flushes, picks up her bags, and takes Riley's hand; she rests her head on his shoulder momentarily.

Ben opens the door, and Riley and Bianca go to their cars...well, Bianca to her car, Riley to the van.

"Oh, wait a minute, Bianca," Ben calls disappearing back in the house for a moment.

He reemerges with the baker's dozen of roses Riley gave her earlier that day.

"Don't want to forget these," he says handing them to her.

"Nope. That would be bad," she replies with a smile, and gives him another hug.

Bianca goes to her car and starts it up.

Just before they head down the driveway, both Riley and Bianca wave back to Ben.

Back at their house, Bianca and Riley quickly get into the house, where Bianca tosses her bags onto a nearby couch. She then spots Riley still standing the hallway, so she runs over to him and jumps into his arms.

Riley stumbles backwards slightly, but regains his footing, and wraps his arms tightly around Bianca.

"I'm glad you're home. I was getting lonely," Riley says in her ear.

Bianca laughs and kisses his cheek.

"I'm glad to be back, too. It was boring in Ben's mansion," she says, as Riley puts her back on the floor.

Riley chuckles and places a kiss on Bianca's forehead.

They release each other and decide to go to bed.

The weather is getting cooler, so Bianca changes into a pair of green sweatpants and a yellow, long sleeve t-shirt. Riley changes into a pair of navy blue sweatpants and a green t-shirt.

They slide under the sheets of the bed, and wrap their arms around each other, getting comfortable.

"I missed this," Bianca sighs, snuggling her head at Riley's neck.

"You're not the only one," Riley replies, resting his chin on the top of her head.

Bianca snickers and leans her head up to kiss Riley; a kiss he gladly returns.

They both fall asleep soon after, captured in each other's embrace.

* * *

_A/N: Wow, that was short...sorry. There's one more yet!  
_


	50. Jabberwocky?

_A/N: WOOOO!!!! Number 50! Hot damn!  
_

* * *

Bianca wakes up the next morning to her cell phone ringing. Looking at who's calling, she rolls her eyes, reading Ben's name.

"Ben, what do you want?" she asks answering the phone.

"Good morning to you too," Ben says sarcastically from the other end.

"Sorry...good morning, Ben. How can I help you?" Bianca says in a falsely sweet voice, just to make Ben happy.

"Is Riley up?" Ben asks.

Bianca raises an eyebrow.

"Why do you want to know?" she asks as Riley rolls over and pokes her in the back.

"Heard that," he mumbles groggily.

"I need to discuss something with both of you," Ben says, answering Bianca's question.

Bianca sighs. "Yeah, he's up. I'll put you on speaker phone," Bianca says, as she hits the button for the speaker.

"Hey, Ben," Riley says, yawning.

"Hi, Riley. Good Morning," Ben says. "Okay, neither of you work today, right?"

"That's correct," Bianca says, running a hand through her hair to fix it how ever slightly.

"Good. We're going to put my plan into work today," Ben says excitedly.

"What?" Riley laughs. "You can't be serious?"

Bianca groans and slumps into Riley. "I was so looking forward to staying home," she mumbles.

"Yes, I'm serious. Are you two going to help me or not?" Ben asks a little perturbed.

"Yeah, we'll help," Bianca grumbles.

"Okay, I'll need you both here at the house..." Ben starts.

"Mansion," Bianca interrupts and corrects.

"Right, mansion, around noon, then we'll get started," Ben continues.

"All right," Bianca and Riley say together.

"Hey, Ben, should we come up with some sort of code name in case we need to be secretive about this?" Riley suggests.

There's silence on Ben's end as he thinks.

"Yeah, okay...think of something and tell me when you get here. See you around noon," Ben says and hangs up the phone.

"What he doesn't say good bye anymore?" Bianca says hanging up her own phone.

* * *

A few minutes before noon, Bianca and Riley get into the van (which Bianca dubbed "Red Death"), and head over to Ben's mansion. They pull up the driveway to the mansion a few minutes after noon, park, and jump out of the van. They walk up to the door and Riley rings the doorbell.

Ben answers the door moments later, and lets them in.

"Nervous?" Bianca asks Ben quietly.

"Not yet," he replies just as quietly.

Bianca grins at him.

"We came up with a code name," Riley whispers.

"More like _he_ came up with it," Bianca mumbles.

Ben nods, indicating that they should continue.

"Jabberwocky," Riley says with a smile.

"Jabberwocky?" Ben questions, making a face.

Bianca tries to hold in her laughter as she watches Ben's face contort into confusion.

"What the hell is 'jabberwocky'?" Ben asks.

Riley shrugs, and Bianca is practically rolling on the floor in fits of giggles.

"I...i...it was all...his idea," Bianca gasps in between fits of laughter.

Riley glares at her for a second, but grins when he sees her sitting on the floor, holding her side, and all-out laughing. Ben can barely hold in his laughter at his best friend, either.

A chair scraping against the floor is barely heard above Bianca's laughing.

Abigail appears in the doorway to the kitchen, looking at the three in the hallway near the front door.

"Riley, Bianca. What brings you two here?" Abigail asks, walking into the hallway.

"We're on the hunt for jabberwockies!" Bianca laughs from the floor.

Abigail makes a face close to the face that Ben made, and Bianca laughs even harder.

"What's a jabberwocky?" Abigail asks.

Riley and Ben shake their heads.

"It's best not to know," Ben says to Abigail, giving her a kiss and putting an arm around her waist.

Bianca calms down, but still sits on the floor.

"Woo, that was fun," she says as she wipes away her tears of laughter.

"For you maybe," Riley says as he extends his hands to help her off of the floor.

Bianca grasps his hands and Riley pulls her to her feet.

"Better?" Ben asks, looking at Bianca.

"Oh, yeah, much better," she answers, with a laugh.

"Would you like something to drink?" Abigail offers.

"Sure," Riley says.

"Sounds good," Bianca says, taking Riley's hand and leaning into his shoulder.

Abigail nods and she and Ben walk to the kitchen followed by Riley and Bianca.

Bianca and Riley sit down at the table with Ben.

"What would you like?" Abigail asks getting glasses out of the cupboard.

"I'll have water," Bianca says. "I'm parched."

"Well, you would be after laughing like that," Ben grins.

Bianca kicks his shin lightly from under the table.

"Ouch," Ben grumbles.

Bianca smirks.

"Now, now, children," Abigail warns from the counter. "Riley, what would you like?"

"Orange juice, if you have it, please. Someone finished off the last of it this morning," Riley says looking directly at Bianca.

"Hey, if you would have gotten out of bed earlier, you could have had some," Bianca defends. "What is this? Beat up on Bianca day?"

Abigail laughs as she brings their desired beverages to the table.

"Must be," she says.

"You're in on it too? For Pete's sake..." Bianca grumbles sarcastically.

"Pete has nothing to do with this," Riley says.

Bianca slaps his arm.

"Ah, all right. Stop hitting me," Riley whines.

"Why? It's oh so much fun," Bianca states.

"Not if you're on the receiving end," Ben puts in, rubbing his shin slightly.

"Yeah, yeah...wuss," Bianca mumbles as she brings the glass of water to her lips.

"So what're you really doing here?" Abigail asks after a minute or so.

Riley, Bianca, and Ben all exchange glances.

"Uh, you and I are going to paint the town red," Bianca says with a smile, looking back at Abigail.

"Didn't we do that recently?" she asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, but we're going again since we don't have to work, and we're going to do a lot more," Bianca explains. "And it's fun!" she put in as an after thought.

Abigail looks skeptically from Riley to Bianca to Ben.

"All right, let's go have some fun," Abigail says after a moment's hesitation.

Bianca let's out a breath she didn't know she was holding and smiles.

They finish their drinks, and Abigail leaves the kitchen to get her things.

"Whew, that was close," Riley mumbles.

"Yeah...good thinking, Bianca. Way to be quick," Ben praises.

"Thank you. I was always good at that," she says jokingly, turning her head up to the ceiling and placing her hand over her heart.

Riley and Ben laugh as they all get up from their chairs and walk to the front door, where Bianca waits for Abigail.

A few minutes later, Abigail comes down the stairs.

"Who's going to drive this time?" she asks Bianca.

"You should. Riley says he needs the van...that and I don't like to drive Red Death," Bianca answers.

"Red Death?" Abigail and Ben ask in unison.

"Yeah, didn't I tell you that's what I named the van?" Bianca says.

"No," Ben says.

"Oh, well...I named the van Red Death," she states with a grin.

"Right," Ben says.

Riley rolls his eyes.

"All right, we'll take my car then," Abigail says, ready to get going.

Bianca nods.

Abigail gives Ben a kiss and heads out the door to her car. Bianca gives Riley a kiss on the cheek, then turns to Ben.

"How much time are you going to need? There's only so much we can do without getting bored," Bianca says to him quietly.

"Two or three hours if you can," Ben says.

"Okay, I'll call you guys when we're on our way back," Bianca says looking from Ben to Riley.

They nod in agreement.

"All right, see you later," she says, and goes down to Abigail's car where she gets in the passenger's seat.

* * *

Riley turns to Ben as they watch the two women drive away.

"I guess it's time to put 'Operation Jabberwocky' into effect," Riley says as they wave back to Abigail and Bianca, who stuck their arms out the windows to wave.

"Yup, let's get started," Ben says. "You have the stuff in the van right?"

"Yes, Bianca triple checked before we left the house," Riley says walking to the van with Ben right behind him.

"I knew she was good for something," Ben replies with a smile.

* * *

_A/N: Wheeee!!! Four at one time!_

_I'll try not to take another 4 months to get the next batch out..._


	51. Surprise Number Two

**A/N:**_ Oh, man! I'm really sorry, everyone! I really am, I swear. To be honest, I forgot about this...I was so caught up in writing other things, I just completely forgot. So without further ado, the next chapter.

* * *

_

Abigail and Bianca drive into center city DC. Since neither of them had eaten since breakfast, they go to a restaurant called La Tasca; a Spanish restaurant and bar down the street from the Archives. 

They then went shopping in a little store nearby and bought some new clothes.

After their shopping spree, they put their new purchases in the car, then walk down to the Spy Museum a few blocks away from La Tasca.

Bianca's mind is reeling trying to think of ways to keep Abigail and herself busy for a few hours. She got Abigail to go into the Spy Museum because she had said that her uncle wanted to be a spy at one point and she wanted to know why he found it interesting. Which is a lie, but anything would work at the moment.

About half way through their walk around the Spy Museum, Abigail's cell phone starts ringing.

Bianca looks at her horrified, hoping that it won't have to take her back home.

When Abigail hangs up the phone she turns to Bianca.

"We have to cut our visit here a little short. Apparently there's some work that needs my attention at the moment at the Archives," she explains.

Bianca let out a sigh.

"That's okay. We can always come back some other time," she says, trying to sound disappointed.

"It shouldn't take too long...I hope," Abigail says started towards the exit.

When her back is turned, Bianca does a little victory dance. Anything to stall for more time.

She follows Abigail back out of the museum and they decide to just walk the few more blocks to the Archives. The meter for the car has enough time on it; Bianca made sure before they walked too far.

Bianca practically skips into the Archives and down the hall to Abigail's office; Abigail following not too far behind.

"Why are you in such a good mood?" Abigail asks as they enter the office.

"Oh, nothing," Bianca replies airily, jumping around the desk and office.

Abigail gives her a weird look.

"Just stay here...and don't break anything. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Right-o."

Abigail shakes her head, grinning, and leaves the room.

Abigail comes back about half an hour later. She opens the door to her office to see Bianca sitting in her chair, with her feet up on the desk, playing with a pair of scissors and a piece of paper, and whistling some song Abigail never heard.

"What on earth are you doing?" she asks Bianca.

Bianca stops whistling and almost drops the scissors as she jumps in the chair.

"I was waiting for you to get back," she says simply, going back to cutting the paper.

"Yes, I can see that. What's with the paper?...and who said you could put your feet on my desk?"

"I was keeping myself entertained...do you like it?"

Bianca takes her feet off of the desk and puts the scissors down. She unfolds the paper and holds it up revealing a snowflake. A childish grin appears on her face.

Abigail laughs at her expression.

"It's very nice."

"Thank you," Bianca replies and gets up out of the chair. "Are we done here?"

"Yes...what were you whistling by the way?" Abigail asks out of curiosity.

"Oh, that. It was Josh Groban's _Oceano_. It's an Italian song, and one of my favorites," she answers bashfully.

Abigail nods.

"Alright, let's go."

As Abigail leaves the office, Bianca takes a piece of tape and sticks it on the paper snowflake, then proceeds to stick it on the window. She sniggers on her way out the door.

"What's so funny?" Abigail asks.

"Nothing," Bianca says cryptically, skipping down the hall again.

Abigail follows again, and the two women walk back to the car. They get there with two minutes left on the meter.

About half an hour away from Ben and Abigail's house, Bianca pulls out her cell phone and dials Riley's number.

"_Hello, Bianca."_

"Hi, Riley. We're about half an hour away. Do you want us to bring food for you and Ben or are you alright?"

"_No, we're alright. We ate not too long ago."_

"Okay...is the jabberwocky safely contained?"

"..._Uh, oh, yes. It is."_

"Good, we'll be there shortly."

"_Okay, see you in a bit. Love you."_

"Love you, too."

With that Bianca hit the 'end' button on her phone.

"Do they want anything?" Abigail asks.

"Nope, they found something to eat," Bianca responds.

"Good, I'm low on cash anyway."

Bianca chuckles.

The rest of the drive back to the house is quiet, except for Bianca humming some song and tapping her foot on the floor.

Once in the driveway and the car parked, the two women clamor out of the car with their bags of purchases, and they walk up to the front door.

They drop their stuff by the door and search out the guys. Of course Bianca knows where they are, but she plays along with Abigail in a few moments of confusion.

Bianca goes into the kitchen and looks out the window that overlooks the garden...including the fountain.

"Hey Abigail?" she calls.

"Yeah?"

"I think I found them."

Abigail comes into the kitchen.

"Where?" she asks.

"Out in the garden," Bianca says simply.

Abigail heads to the backdoor, while Bianca catches the guys' attention to warn them she's on her way.

She leaves the window and catches up to Abigail just before she opens the door.

As Abigail opens the door, the scent of flowers and freshly cut grass hits Bianca's nose, and she smiles as she closes her eyes. However, she opens her eyes again, when she hears Abigail gasp.

Abigail slowly steps out into the garden and approaches Ben as she slowly looks around.

The garden has been decorated with flowers of every sort, white flower petals are strewn on the path to the fountain...and up to Ben, and little odds and ends of other decorations adorn the area as well. The area gives off a party-like atmosphere, but at the same time, a romantic feel.

Bianca, who is still standing in the doorway, is astonished by what the guys did in such a short amount of time.

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Riley walking up to her. She turns towards him and smiles even wider.

"It looks great," she compliments.

"Thanks. Ben did most of it," he says honestly, and puts an arm around Bianca's shoulders.

Bianca nods and leans into him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"You smell like grass," she comments.

"That's why Ben did most of the work...he made me cut the grass," Riley explains.

Bianca laughs slightly and hugs him.

"That's okay...I like the smell. Every earthy."

Riley grins and kisses the top of her head.

The attention on themselves is brief, though, because Abigail finally reaches Ben.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ben, what's going on?" Abigail asks Ben.

"I've been having this feeling lately, and I had to let it out somehow," he starts.

Abigail gives him a weird look.

"I've dragged you through so much, and I feel that this is the only way I can repay you for putting up with me...us," he continues, pointing in Bianca and Riley's position when he needs to.

Abigail still looks confused.

Ben takes a small box out of his pocket as gets down on one knee.

"Abigail Chase, will you marry me?" Ben asks, opening the box to reveal a ring made of white gold. It has three diamonds on it: one slightly larger one surrounded by two smaller ones. Beside the smaller diamonds is another diamond of a rectangular cut.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bianca can hardly contain her excitement. This is taking Ben a lot of guts to do.

Abigail looks down at the ring and box in Ben's hand. She stands there, shocked for a few moments before she whispers out a 'yes' that Riley and Bianca barely hear.

"Did she say yes?" Bianca asks Riley as they try to distinguish what she said.

"I don't know." 

When they see the giant smile that spreads across Ben's face as he stands up, they know she said yes.

Ben takes the ring out of the box and places it on Abigail's finger. He then envelops her in a hug and kisses her.

Bianca pulls away from Riley slightly to jump in the air and punch it. A loud 'woo' escaping her lips.

Bern and Abigail separate and walk in Riley and Bianca's direction.

Bianca's the first to speak up.

"So...when's the wedding?"

* * *

**A/N: **_All right, another coming lickety split!_


	52. Riley, Did You?

**A/N:**_ Here you go...another one!

* * *

_

Another month goes by. Ben and Abigail have been busy trying to figure out all the details for their wedding. Riley and Bianca help out when they can. 

Bianca, Ben, and Abigail are sitting on the porch in the backyard of Ben and Abigail's mansion. (Riley drops Bianca off at the mansion, while he goes out to do some "stuff," as he called it.) The three are discussing where to have the reception.

"So, we'll rent out a dance hall, then?" Ben asks as they slowly approach an agreement.

"Yeah, that sounds good. Bianca? What do you think?" Abigail says, turning to face Bianca.

"Sounds like a plan," she responds. "But there's still the fact of where the ceremony is going to be held."

There is a pause while everyone thinks.

"How about we save that for another day...anyone want a drink?" Ben says getting out of the chair he was sitting in, and walking to the door.

"No thanks," Abigail says looking at a piece of paper on the table.

"I'll have a glass of water, please," Bianca answers politely.

Ben gives her a look.

"Since when are you polite?" he asks.

Bianca shrugs with a grin.

Ben goes into the house to get the beverages.

Bianca looks back to Abigail.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm making a map for Ben," Abigail replies, not looking up from the paper she was writing on.

"I don't think I want to know anymore than that," Bianca states, raising an eyebrow, and shaking her head.

Abigail looks up and laughs.

They hear the doorbell ring, and Ben's footsteps to answer it.

When Ben comes back with Bianca's drink and his own, he has Riley following him.

"Why didn't you just walk around the house instead of ringing the doorbell?" Bianca asks as Riley sits in the chair next to her.

"Meh, I didn't feel like it," he says, kissing her forehead.

Bianca shrugs again, and takes a gulp of her water.

"So...now what?" she asks.

"Well, you and I have to set a date where we can find us dresses," Abigail responses.

Bianca practically spits out her water.

"Excuse me? Bianca Lewis does not wear dresses.

"Well, you're going to have to if you're going to be in my wedding."

Bianca looks at Abigail with a confused look.

"Unless you don't want to be my maid of honor," Abigail suggests.

"What? Of course I will!"

Bianca jumps out of her chair and almost tackles Abigail in a hug.

"You're serious?"

"No, I'm lying to you," Abigail says sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Thanks for telling me now," Bianca complains, going back to her seat.

"I was going to wait until the day I was planning on going, but I decided to tell you now."

"Was that sarcasm?" Bianca asks, grinning.

"Noooooo," Abigail replies, also grinning.

The two start cracking up. The guys exchange a look, and simultaneously roll their eyes.

"So, Riley, will you be my best man?" Ben asks.

"Yeah, sure," Riley replies casually.

"What is it with guys and getting right to the point?" Bianca asks Abigail after recovering from her laughter.

Abigail shrugs.

"So what day's good for you?" Abigail asks Bianca, referring back to discussing a day where they could go dress shopping.

"I think I'm off next Tuesday," she replies.

"Great! So am I. We'll go then. I'm sure Bridgette, Sandra, and Heidi can get off then too," Abigail says.

"Who...?" Bianca starts.

"Are Bridgette, Sandra, and Heidi?" at Bianca's nod, Abigail continues. "They've been my good friends since as far as I remember."

"Ah," Bianca says simply with a nod of the head.

"Are you ladies done yet? I'd like to get home," Riley says in a bored tone.

Bianca looks to Abigail, who nods.

"Sure, we can go," Bianca says to Riley.

The four stand up and walk through the house to the front door.

"Just give me a call when you..."

Bianca trails off when Riley opens the door. She sees a HOT, red, convertible Ferrari sitting in the driveway, where Riley normally parks Red Death (**N/A:** _the van for those who forgot_).

"...need more help," she finishes quietly, in awe of the car. "Riley, did you...?"

"I needed a change of cars," he explains with a giant smile.

The four walked down to the Ferrari. Riley jumps into the driver's side of the car from the passenger's side.

"These things do have doors, you know," Bianca states, opening the passenger's door, and getting in.

"Wow...nice choice," she says rubbing the seat wither hand.

Riley grins at her.

Ben closes the door and leans in to take a look at the car.

"Whoever said 'You can't always get what you want' was wrong," Ben states.

"That would be the Rolling Stones...come on, Ben! They're only thee best band ever!" Bianca says. "But they never found hidden treasure," she adds.

"True," he says leaning back, away from the car.

"Oh, Ben. I don't know if I've said this, but for the record, I like the house," Riley says putting on a pair of sunglasses.

"You know, I chose this estate because in 1812, Charles Carroll..." Ben starts to explain.

"Yeah, did something in history and had fun. Great," Riley cuts him off, not wanting to hear another history lesson.

"I'm sure Bianca would like to hear about it," Ben says.

"I'd love to..." she says with a smile, but takes a glance at Riley and changes her mind. "Er, maybe some other time, though."

Ben nods as Riley starts the car.

"Have fun. We'll talk to you later," Bianca says as Riley starts to drive away.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ben and Abigail hear Riley put the Ferrari in the wrong gear and Bianca yell:

"Put it in second!"

(**A/N:** _Hmm, yeah, I don't know how to drive stick, so if that's not right, don't kill me_.)

The two laugh, and Abigail hands Ben a piece of paper.

"What's this?" he asks.

"A map," Abigail replies starting to walk back to the house.

"A map? A map to what?" Ben repeats, confused.

"You'll find out," Abigail turns back to him briefly, then starts to run to the mansion.

Ben is hot on her heels...

* * *

**A/N:**_ I'll try not to leave you all hanging so long for the next one, but I'm not making any promises...look how that turned out in the past._


	53. That Is Ugly!

**A/N: **_Wow...sorry I took so long. I have no excuse except that I'm lazy. So to make up for my lazy-ness, I give you three chapters at once! Whoo! Enjoy!_

* * *

Tuesday comes and Bianca heads over to Ben and Abigail's house, so they can do a little dress shopping with Bridgette, Sandra, and Heidi. As Bianca pulls up to the mansion, she notices a car she's never seen before: a blue Honda.

She gets out of her car and heads to the door. Just as she's about to ring the bell, the door swings open, and Abigail stands in the frame.

"Good timing," she says, standing to the side to let Bianca in the house.

In the living room were three other women.

"Bianca, this is Sandra, Heidi, and Bridgette," Abigail points to each woman as she says their name.

All the women seem to be around the same age as Abigail, maybe a few years separate the oldest from the youngest.

Sandra is a woman with dark brown hair, almost black, that reaches a few inches above her shoulders; she has dark brown eyes to match. She looks to be about Abigail's height. Heidi is Sandra's twin, so their looks are similar. There are only slight differences between the two: Heidi's hair is longer, past her shoulders, close to Bianca's length, and her eyes are a lighter shade of brown. Bridgette has long blonde hair that goes to her mid-back, and dark blue eyes. When she stands up, she is about Bianca's height, if not a little shorter.

"My friends, this is Bianca," Abigail continues to introduce.

"Hi," Bianca says, raising a hand.

A variety of 'hi's and 'hello's greet her.

"Well, now that we're all here, let's get going," Abigail says excitedly, going back to the front door.

The other four follow Abigail out to the drive.

"Let's take my car. I think we'll all fit in there," Abigail says, walking backwards to the car.

Bridgette, Heidi, and Sandra squish into the back, while Bianca gets the front seat, and Abigail drives.

They arrive at a dress shop not too long after they got out of the driveway.

Bianca gets out of the car and gives the building a disgusted look.

"I don't like dresses..." she mumbles to herself.

"Well, let's go," Bridgette says, patting Bianca on the shoulder. "I don't like dresses either, but let's make the best of it."

Bianca nods and they follow the other three into the shop.

They look around for a while, getting tips and help from the woman helping them the whole time.

Abigail spots a very unique dress in the corner of the shop, and starts cracking up. The other four exchange glances between them, then look at Abigail.

"You guys have to try these on," Abigail says in between laughs.

She pulls a dress off the rack and shows it to the others. They gasp and take a step back.

"Oh, my god. That thing is ugly," Sandra says.

"There is no way I'm going to wear that, in this world or the next," Heidi says.

Bridgette and Bianca grin at each other, then turn to Abigail.

"Hand it over," Bianca says, taking the dress from Abigail.

"Let's see just how ugly these things are," says Bridgette, taking another one off the rack.

The one Bianca is about to try on is a light blue color, while the one Bridgette is holding is a light pink.

The dress goes to about the knees and has three layers. It is strapless, and has a bow that goes around the waist. There is also a sash that goes with it.

"Pink really isn't my color," Bridgette states from inside the changing room.

Abigail, Heidi, and Sandra giggle at the statement.

"Are you ready?" Bianca asks over the separation.

"Yup. You?" Bridgette responds.

"Yup. On three: one, two, three."

On three the two jump out of their changing room and strike a ridiculous pose. They were doing what they set out to do: make the most of their dress shopping experience.

The other three started laughing as hard as they could.

"This looks like something I would wear when I was five and going to my grandmother's for Easter or something," Bianca states, looking down at the dress.

"Ugh, yeah," Bridgette agrees.

The five continue to look around for something suitable. Bianca and Bridgette decide to stay in the ugly dresses until they find something good.

Bianca had been digging in the back of a rack of decent dresses, when she pulls out a sage green one that hits the floor and has thin strips. There is also a little beadwork around the top.

"Hey guys...er, ladies," she starts to get their attention. "What about this one?"

"I like that one. And the color is beautiful also," Heidi says.

They all agree and try them on to get their correct sizes. The woman helping them takes down all the information she needs, and the five cram back into Abigail's car to head back to the mansion.

Abigail hugs her friends before they get into the Honda.

Bianca is standing a few feet away and isn't paying too much attention.

Abigail looks to Bianca then back to her friends. She whispers something to them, and before Bianca could even move, they her surround in a group hug. Bianca lets out a squeak of surprise, then gasps for air.

"Ahh, can't breathe," she spits out.

The four release Bianca, and laugh for a few minutes.

"I better be getting home. Riley's probably hungry if he didn't order anything yet," Bianca says, after everyone got their breath back, and looking at her watch.

"Who's Riley?" Bridgette asks, wagging her eyebrows.

Bianca is about to answer, but Abigail beats her to it.

"Riley is her boyfriend," she practically whispers, making it sound like some secret.

Bianca lowers her head and brings a hand to her face, trying to hide. The other three add a collective "ooooohhh" to make the situation even more embarrassing for Bianca.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going home. Abigail, have Ben call Riley when they decide on a day to go for tuxedos. It was nice meeting you ladies," she says to Abigail, then to the other three.

Bianca jumps in her car and drives home to a waiting Riley.

As soon as Bianca enters the house, Riley walks out of the kitchen.

"How was your dress shopping?" he asks, walking towards her.

Bianca quickly walks up to him and throws her arms around his neck. "It was exhausting. I don't want to do it again...for a while, anyway," she says into his shoulder.

"That bad?" he asks, wrapping his arms around her back.

"Not really. I just don't like dresses, let alone, try them on," she says.

Bianca pulls back slightly and gives Riley a kiss.

"Did you eat yet?" she asks.

"Nope, I was waiting for you."

"Aww, thanks."

"I was waiting so you could make me something," he says with a smirk.

Bianca slaps his arm.

"I thought we were past the hitting stage," Riley whines.

"You can never pass the hitting stage," Bianca replies.

There is a pause as the two look at each other.

"I was kidding about the food thing. I was thinking we could order a pizza," Riley says with hopeful eyes.

"Certainly," Bianca agrees. "Pizza sounds great."

They order a pizza, and when it arrives, they sit on the couch in front of the TV eating it. When they finish eating, they stay on the couch, and watch more TV until they fall asleep for the night...Bianca in Riley's arms.


	54. Are You Crazy?

A few days later, Riley gets a call from Ben. They plan a day the next week where they would go on a tuxedo hunt. Their tux shopping crept up faster than anyone expected.

Bianca doesn't know what to do for the day, while Riley's out. Wandering around the backyard, she gets an idea. She pulls out her cell phone and dials a number. Within about half an hour, Bianca makes her way over to Ben and Abigail's mansion to get Abigail. The two women get into Bianca's MINI, and drive to downtown D.C. They pull up to a restaurant called La Tasca, and Bianca kills the engine, but doesn't get out of the car.

"What are we waiting for?" Abigail asks.

"Not 'what,' 'who,'" Bianca corrects.

"All right, then 'who' are we waiting for?"

"Your mom," Bianca says sarcastically, with a snort, and an eye roll.

Abigail gave her a look.

"Yikes. Take a joke...okay, we're meeting Ian here."

As soon as Bianca speaks, she tries to sink as far as she can into her seat.

"WHAT!?"

"I told you months ago that he wanted to make amends. I thought starting out with lunch would be all right."

"Without Ben and Riley? Are you crazy?"

"Probably, but it's never been confirmed," Bianca replies. "Come on, Abigail. We can handle him. There's a thing called 'cell phones' if we need help."

Abigail stares angrily at Bianca for a few minutes, then sighs.

"All right. We'll give it a try," she says.

"Good, because he's here," Bianca says, looking out of her window.

Abigail leans forward to also look out of the window. They see Ian get out of a nearby car. Bianca turns to look back at Abigail, and raises an eyebrow at her. They both sigh.

"Now or never," Abigail mumbles.

Bianca nods, and they get out of the car.

Ian sees them, and nods. The two women exchange a look, then walk over to him.

"Hello, Ian," Bianca says with a small smile.

"Hello," he says back, then looks to Abigail and nods again. "Dr. Chase."

"Ian."

There is silence as Abigail glares at Ian. Bianca looks at Abigail before clearing her throat. "Well, I'm hungry. Let's eat," she says and walks towards the restaurant.

Ian follows, then Abigail, hesitantly.

Bianca looks back as she enters the restaurant, and sees Abigail glaring daggers at Ian's back. She opens the door for Ian and Abigail. As Abigail walks through, Bianca leans towards her.

"Stop that," she whispers.

"Stop what?"

"Glaring at him. At least give him a damn chance."

"I'm trying, but...it's going to be hard," Abigail whispers.

Bianca nods, then when Abigail passes her, she rolls her eyes.

They get seats (Abigail and Bianca across from Ian) and order drinks. After they place drink orders, they are quiet. Bianca looks around the restaurant; the gothic styles lights that hang from the ceiling intrigue her.

"Dr. Chase," Ian starts, breaking the silence. "Like I said to Bianca a while back, I'd like to make amends with you."

Bianca's head snaps back to reality, and looks from Ian to Abigail, whose mouth is slightly open.

"You mean it?" she asks, after a moment.

Ian looks to Bianca, and puts his elbows on the table.

"Yes," he replies, like it was the simplest thing to comprehend.

Abigail leans back heavily in her chair, never taking her eyes away from Ian. She crosses her arms over her chest. Bianca looks at Abigail as she thinks.

"All right. I'll believe you...for now. Good luck trying to get Ben to agree, though," Abigail finally says, sitting up in her chair.

Bianca smiles as she looks between Abigail and Ian.

Ian reclines in his chair more, grinning.

Their drinks arrive, and they place their orders. Bianca was okay with the lunch, but she could tell that Abigail was still skeptical about the whole issue.

After lunch, the three head back out to the parking lot. At Bianca's MINI, Ian extends his hand to Abigail. Abigail looks at his hand then shakes it.

"Nice to see you again, Dr. Chase, and under different circumstances than the last time," Ian says.

"Yeah, same here. And it's Abigail," she replies, smiling ever so slightly.

Bianca would have done the Mexican Hat Dance in celebration, but thought better of it. She didn't want the attention; she just smiles instead...she did do a mental celebration dance, though.

Ian turns to her. "Good to see you again, Bianca," he says, shaking her hand.

"Likewise," she smiled, and lightly hit his arm with her free hand. "Later."

The two women get in the MINI, as Ian walks over to his own car.

Bianca sighs as she starts the engine.

"That wasn't so bad, now was it?" she asks Abigail.

"No, it wasn't THAT bad," she agrees, then sinks into the seat, as she brings her hand to her forehead.

Bianca suppresses a laugh.

They drive back to the mansion, and see that all of the cars were in the driveway, meaning that Ben and Riley were back. Abigail and Bianca walk into the house, and, ultimately, into the kitchen, where they find Ben and Riley sitting at the kitchen table. As the women walk in, the guys look at them.

"Where were you two?" Riley asks.

Ben took a drink from his cup.

"Out to lunch," Abigail says.

"With Ian," Bianca mumbles.

Ben coughed into the cup. "What!?"

"We went to lunch with Ian," Bianca says with hand movements.

Riley stood from the chair. "Why'd you do that?"

"I told you all that he wanted to make amends. I believe him, and now Abigail does...for now anyway," Bianca defends with a sigh. "Obviously nothing happened, and we're fine."

Riley steps towards Bianca, and hugs her. She hugs him back. "Let us know next time you do something crazy like that," he whispers in her ear.

"Why does everyone think I'm crazy? I swear..." she says after Riley releases her.

Abigail goes over to Ben.

"She's right. Nothing happened. We just had lunch," Abigail says, looking between Riley and Ben.

"You're sure?" Ben asks.

"Yes!" Abigail and Bianca say together.

"Okay, calm down," Ben says, defensively.

"I am calm," they reply, again, together.

They exchange a look, and start laughing.

Ben and Riley exchange a look, and roll their eyes.

"How was the Great Tux Hunt?" Bianca asks, after she finished laughing.

"Short. A lot shorter than your dress hunting," Riley answers.

"Did you find nice ones? No 70's era baby blue tuxes?" Abigail says with a small giggle.

"No, nothing like those. They're normal, black tuxes with green accents," Ben says, smiling.

"How ironic," Bianca mumbles.

"What?" Riley asks.

"Our dresses are a sage green," she says.

"Yeah, that's what Abigail said. That's why we went with the green," Ben explained.

"Ah, that explains it then," Bianca acknowledges.

The four spend the remainder of the day going over wedding details.


	55. A Wedding And A Surprise

Months have passed, and over those months everything for Ben and Abigail's wedding was planned. Bianca had gotten Ben and Ian to get together so Ian could apologize and make amends. It took a few times before Ben was able to forgive him (and actually meet with him), but Bianca was there, pushing her friend into it.

The day of Ben and Abigail's wedding approached quicker than any of them would realize.

Bianca, Bridgette, Sandra, and Heidi all help Abigail with getting her dress on, her hair and make up, and anything else she needs for the wedding...all while they're at the church...a few hours before everyone else.

Bianca excuses herself from the room, saying that the hairspray the others are using is getting to her senses. Walking out into the hall of the church, Bianca takes a little walk around the establishment. She wanders into the sanctuary, and lightly runs her fingers over a few plants set up for the occasion.

"Why are you here so early?" a voice says from behind her.

Smiling down at the plant, Bianca slowly turns to her visitor.

"Abigail forced us to be here early enough to do all that girly stuff, Riley," she answers.

Riley grins at her. "Then what are you doing out here?"

Bianca takes slow steps until she's standing right in front of Riley. "They were using so much hair spray, I couldn't stand it anymore, so I went for a walk," she says, then tilts her head up to kiss him. "Care to join me?" she asks after pulling back.

"Certainly," Riley responds.

Riley takes Bianca's hand as they walk out of the sanctuary, and through the church. Walking out a side door, they end up outside. Bianca takes a large intake of breath through her nose.

"Ahh, fresh air," she mumbles.

Riley looks out of the corner of his eye at Bianca, and smirks. He then takes his hand out of hers and wraps it around the shoulders. He pulls her close to him, and kisses her forehead.

When Riley pulls back, he retakes Bianca's hand and they continue to walk around the perimeter of the church. Pausing at the back of the church, they stand and enjoy the beautiful weather; Bianca is wrapped up in Riley's arms.

For an unknown length of time, they stand there. They hear footsteps coming their way, so they turn towards the sound. Ben comes around the corner.

"All right you two. Come on. Time to get ready," he says, waving his hand around. "And Bianca, Abigail is looking for you."

"Okay, we'll be right in," Riley says.

"Hurry up," Ben replies before walking back into the church.

Bianca turns in Riley's arms to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I guess we should get back in there before they hunt for us again," Bianca says, softly.

"I guess so."

With another kiss, they separate and hold hands as they walk back into the church. Riley walks Bianca back to the room where Abigail and the rest are getting ready. After a kiss to her cheek, he leaves to go to Ben and help him and the other groomsmen out.

Bianca watches as Riley walks to the opposite end of the hall, then goes into the room. Inside, Abigail had her wedding dress on and her hair and make up was complete. Abigail's dress was simple, yet elegant. It was thin-strapped with multiple layers of a sheer material, and just hit the floor.

Abigail spotted Bianca walk into the room, and walks over to her.

"Is Ben here yet?" she asks, giving her a worried look.

Bianca chuckles. "Yes, Ben and the others are here."

Abigail sighs. "Good. I was a little worried."

"Why? You have no reason to worry. Ben loves you, Abigail. I've known him for as long as I can remember, and I've never seen him so in love with someone before," Bianca says with a reassuring smile.

"Thank you, Bianca. Thanks for calming me," Abigail says, then gives Bianca a hug.

"It's no problem," Bianca replies, returning her hug.

"Now, go get ready. The other three are almost ready."

Bianca rolls her eyes, then nods and goes off to change into the sage green dress.

About half an hour later, all of the women are ready for the start of the wedding. Bianca, Bridgette, Sandra, and Heidi are all sitting in chairs waiting for their cue to leave. Abigail is pacing in front of them. Bianca opens her mouth to tell Abigail to sit down and relax, but she is stopped when a knock is heard on the door. Abigail's mother sticks her head through.

"Are you all ready?" she asks, in an accent slightly thicker than Abigail's.

With all of them nodding, Mrs. Chase opens the door, and leads the five down the hall. Mr. Chase meets Abigail and kisses her on the cheek.

As the music starts, Heidi and one of Ben's groomsmen start down the aisle. Following them is Bridgette and another man, then Sandra and a man. Bianca and Riley are the last of the party to walk...before Abigail and her father, of course.

Bianca links her arm with Riley's as they walk down the aisle. They occasionally share a smile or grin. At the alter, Bianca reluctantly lets go of Riley as they move to their places. The music changes to "Here Comes the Bride" and all eyes focus at the back of the church to where Abigail is walking with her father.

When Abigail reaches the alter, the ceremony begins. When the time came, Abigail passed her flowers over to Bianca, her maid of honor.

Bianca and Riley keep stealing glances at each other throughout the whole ceremony.

At one time, just as Abigail and Ben are exchanging rings, Bianca takes a look to the back of the sanctuary. She does a double take, then looks over at Riley, signaling him to take a look. He does, and his eyes widen as he sees what Bianca did.

Ian is standing in the rear of the sanctuary, watching the ceremony.

Bianca looks at Riley and mouths an 'it's okay' to him, barely moving her lips. Riley nods slightly, and Bianca saw him visibly relax a little.

"May I be the first to introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Gates," the priest announces a few moments later.

Amid the clapping and whistling, Bianca glances back to the rear of the church to see that Ian is gone.

After the ceremony, many pictures are taken in the front of the church of the wedding party and any other combinations of people anyone could think of. The wedding party and its guests are then moved to a dance hall not too far from the church for the reception. Bianca and Riley are seated directly next to Ben and Abigail, on Ben's side.

As Ben and Abigail move to the dance floor for their first dance as man and wife, Bianca takes her camera out of a bag she brought, and snaps some pictures. (The bag contains a pair of no heeled shoes, and a change of comfortable clothes in case she is able to sneak out to actually change.)

After Ben and Abigail's dance, food is served as the DJ continues to play music. Every once in a while a few utensils would be clanked against glasses, signaling that Ben and Abigail should kiss. Whenever that happens, camera flashes would go off in every direction.

Dancing begins after the plates are cleared from the tables, and Bianca pulls Riley onto the dance floor. They dance to a slow song, as Ben and Abigail dance next to them.

"It was a beautiful ceremony, Abigail...and Ben," Bianca compliments, as she lifts her head from Riley's shoulder.

"And we thank you for your help. Both of you," Ben replies, with a grin.

"Oh, well. It was nothing," Riley shrugs with a smile.

Ben, Abigail, and Bianca laugh. It is a good day to be silly and have fun.

During the next up beat song, Ben and Riley switch partners...Bianca now dances with Ben, and Abigail dances with Riley. A few flashes go off as the four dance.

"I must say, Ben. You seemed a little nervous up there, waiting for Abigail," Bianca says, as they dance.

"I was...I wasn't sure if she was going to go through with it," Ben replies, honestly.

"Well, to be honest, she was feeling the same way. And I'm glad you both did it. I've never seen you happier," Bianca smiles.

"Thank you, Bianca," he says, then hugs his friend.

A few hours into the reception, Bianca is speaking with a few of Mr. Chase's friends in a room off to the side of the main room. Unfortunately for her, the room is filled with smoke. Excusing herself, she slips out of the room, and out into the cool, night air. She again takes deep breaths, trying to get her lungs clear of the smoke. She ends up coughing for a few minutes.

"Bianca?"

She is able to stop coughing for a moment to look up at Riley.

"I'm over here Riley," she coughs towards the door he came out of.

She hears Riley's footsteps approach her as she sits the curb to the parking lot. Bianca feels him sit next to her; he rubs her back.

"Are you all right?" he asks, resting his head against hers.

"I will be in a few moments," she says in between coughs. "It was just a little too smoky for my taste."

"It was a light hard to see in that room also," he replies.

"That too."

They both chuckle, then Bianca stands. Riley stands with her, making sure she doesn't fall over.

"You okay to go back in?" Riley asks.

"I think so."

"I want you to be sure."

Bianca looks up into Riley's eyes, then swiftly places her hands on either side of his face, and kisses him.

"I'll take that as you're all right," he says.

Bianca nods, takes Riley's hand, and the two go back into the hall.

As soon as they walk in, Abigail is getting ready to toss her bouquet. Bridgette and Sandra practically pounce on Bianca as she walks back in. Bianca looks at Riley, then releases his hand. The two bring her over to the rest of the group of women. Abigail sets herself in front of the group. The DJ counts down for Abigail to toss the flowers. When she does, the women in front of Bianca duck, making her catch the bouquet. Bianca looks from the flowers, to the smirking women around her, to Riley at his seat at the head table.

After the clapping died down, the group of women disperses, and Bianca takes her seat next to Riley. She sets the flowers on the table in front of her.

"I can't believe they ducked," Bianca says more to herself then Riley.

"People are weird," he says simply. He looks across the room, suddenly, and nods to someone over there. "I'll be right back."

"Okay," Bianca says, raising an eyebrow.

Riley stands and walks to the far side of the hall, Bianca watches him as he moves. She sees him converse with Ben and the DJ.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to have to ask those of you on the dance floor to momentarily leave for a special event," the DJ announces over the sound system.

The dance floor clears quickly, and Bianca's brow furrows.

'What is going on?' she thinks.

The DJ hands Ben a microphone, and he and Riley both walk out to the middle of the floor...Riley slides a chair with him.

"My friends," Ben starts into the microphone, "new and old. Family, both new and old. I need the presence of another one of my good friends...besides the one standing next to me," he grins, as he motions to Riley. "Bianca, could you come out here, please?"

Bianca stands slowly from her seat at the head table. Her brow is slightly less furrowed as she walks around the table and out onto the floor with Ben and Riley. Ben stretches out his hand to her as she comes within reaching distance of him. She takes his hand.

"Sit in the chair," he says quietly to her, moving the mic away from his mouth.

She sits and stares up at Ben and Riley. Ben faces Riley as he hands him the mic.

"It's all yours," Ben says to him before he leaves the floor.

Riley nods nervously to Ben, then clears his throat, bringing the mic to his mouth.

"Bianca, I know that we've only known each other for a short time, but we are so alike that I feel that we've known each other for many, many years," Riley pauses as he holds his hand out to Bianca. She takes it, and looks up at him even more lost than she was before. Riley sighs before continuing. "Oh, whatever. I'm not good with speeches." Here, Riley kneels in front of Bianca and pulls something out of his pocket. "I'm just going to get right to it," he says, earning a few chuckles from the people around him. "Bianca, will you marry me?"

Riley opens the small box he pulled from his pocket, exposing a flowery engagement ring.

Bianca looks at the ring sitting on the black velvet, then looks up into Riley's hopeful eyes.

"Of course, Riley. I can't say anything other than yes," she says with a smile.

Riley smiles wide, then places the microphone gently on the floor and takes the ring out of the box. He places it on Bianca's ring finger.

Bianca looks at the ring as it shines under the lights of the hall, the back up to Riley. She throws her arms around his neck in a hug, falling into him, as the whole hall claps for them. Pulling back slightly, she looks deeply into his blue eyes.

Feeling bold because of Bianca's gaze, Riley swoops in and kisses her fiercely, taking her breath away. Many catcalls and whistles accompany their kiss.

When the two separate, they stand. Riley picks up Bianca and spins her in a circle as Ben and Abigail join them on the floor. The DJ plays more music as a bunch of people also walk out onto the floor to congratulate Bianca and Riley.

Once the people who attended the reception left, Bianca and Riley help Abigail, Ben, and the hired help to clean up. After the clean up, Bianca and Riley say their good byes to Abigail, Ben, and their families, then leave to go back home. Since Bianca went to the church with Bridgette, Riley drove both of them home...in his Ferrari, which he finally learned how to drive properly.

Once in the door of their home, Bianca turns to Riley and hugs him again.

"I love you, Riley," she says in his ear.

"I love you, too, Bianca," he replies in the same fashion.

The two go up to the bedroom and change into their pajamas. Crawling into the bed, Riley wraps his arms and legs around Bianca as she snuggles into him, holding her close. Bianca could free only one arm from Riley's grasp, so she slings it over his body to rub his back. They fall asleep not too long after...it was a long and exciting say, after all.

* * *

**A/N:**_ Aww...okay, I have two more chapters and then it's the end. How sad. But I'm kinda glad...it means I finally finished this! Whoo! Anywho, until next time..._


	56. I Really Hate You Right Now

**A/N:**_ Oh. Wow. I'm sooooo sorry it took me over a year (!) to get this next chapter out! Forgive me? My life's been a little...crazy to say the least._

_I don't have the next (and last) chapter ready...I don't even have it written. I was waiting for a sketch from a friend, but she's been busy, so I guess I won't get it. I'll work on it, though. I PROMISE it won't take another year. I wouldn't expect too much out of it though..._

_Now, on with the show!_

_8888888_

Several months after Ben and Abigail's wedding, Bianca contacts Abigail again. Bianca decides to make Abigail her maid of honor since she did the same. She feels it's only right. Bianca only wants two bridesmaids: Abigail and Bianca's college friend, Laura (who was her roommate for most of college, as well).

Bianca and Riley both want to keep their wedding small and completely different from Ben and Abigail's...hence Bianca's choice for only two maids. They only want close friends and family to attend and they want it outdoors.

While Bianca and Abigail spend their days with details, invitations, and contacting people needed for the wedding, Ben and Riley spend their days scouring D.C. to find a large, open space that could be used for the wedding ceremony and reception.

--

Riley and Bianca wake up early one day a few months before their wedding. After their morning routine, they head to the kitchen for breakfast. Riley is feeling bold and generous this morning, so he offers to make their meal.

"Just don't burn anything...especially the kitchen itself," Bianca tells him as she sits down at their kitchen table.

"I think the only thing I'd burn would be myself," Riley mumbles.

Bianca hears him however, and tries to hold back her laughter. She props her elbow up on the table and rests her chin on her palm. Watching Riley move around the kitchen, talking to himself, she can't help but grin at him.

Riley looks over at Bianca while he waits for the pan to heat up.

"What are you grinning at?" he asks her.

"You," she answers, simply. "You're very amusing to watch."

Riley rolls his eyes, but also grins, then goes back to making their breakfast. When he finishes his cooking, he brings two plates full of eggs, bacon, and toast. He sets one plate in front of Bianca and the other in front of his seat across from her.

"What about drinks?" Bianca asks, just as he was about to sit down.

Riley paused and looked over at her. "What do you want?" he retorted.

"Orange juice or milk will be fine," she said.

Nodding, Riley goes over to the cabinet to get two glasses, then goes over to the refrigerator and takes out the orange juice, filling both glasses. He brings both glasses over to the table, handing one to Bianca.

"May I sit down now?" he asks, looking at her.

Bianca grins, then nods.

Riley sits and they eat their food. Throughout their meal, they occasionally play 'footsie' with each other. When that happens, they momentarily forget about their food until someone gets kicked in the shin or one of them gives up.

Once they finish breakfast, Bianca helps Riley clear the table, putting the dishes in the dishwasher. After Riley starts the dishwasher, Bianca puts her arms around his neck. She grins at him as they lock gazes. Riley wraps his arms around her waist.

"I forgot to give you something this morning," Bianca says softly.

"Oh, really? And what's that?" Riley asks, feigning ignorance.

Bianca smirks, then leans towards him, pulling his head down as she does, and kisses him. Once they pull apart, Riley grins down at Bianca.

"Yeah, you did forget that this morning."

Just as they lean in to kiss again, the doorbell rings. Bianca lifts her arm slightly from Riley's shoulders to look at her watch.

"Who the hell is that? It's not time yet," she says, slowly letting her arms slide from around him.

"Not time for what?" Riley asks, raising an eyebrow.

Bianca sighs. "I told you last week that Abigail, Laura, and I were going dress shopping today."

"Oh, yeah. Right," he mumbles. "It must have just slipped my mind."

Bianca rolls her eyes dramatically with a grin. She then realizes that Riley's arms are still around her waist.

"Will you let me go, so I can answer the door?" she asks.

"Nope," he says.

Huffing, she turns in his arms and starts walking towards the front door. Riley is pulled along, his arms still around her, trying not to step on her heels. When they reach the door, he still doesn't let go of her. As Bianca opens the door, however, he does let her go, but keeps one hand resting lightly on her hip.

Once she fully opens the door, she sees Laura standing on the porch. Smiling, Bianca practically jumps out of Riley's grasp and onto Laura.

"Hey, B," Laura says, using her nickname for Bianca, as the two hug.

"You're too early," Bianca jokingly scolds.

Riley stands in the doorway and watches the two friends, a small grin playing on his lips. The two women continue to speak to one another, momentarily forgetting about him. He doesn't really care, though, and understands that the two hadn't seen each other for a few years.

"Oh, I'm so stupid," Bianca says, turning back to Riley. "Laura, this is my fiancé, Riley."

"Ah, so I finally get to meet the infamous Riley," Laura says, shaking hands with him.

Looking over at Bianca, Riley raises an eyebrow at her. She just shrugs.

"Nice to finally meet you, too," he replies.

"Well, come on in," Bianca says after they shake hands.

Bianca takes Laura's elbow and nudges her into the house. She leads her into the sitting room in front of the unlit fireplace. Laura sits in one of the chairs, while Bianca and Riley sit close together on the couch across from her.

"All right, so how'd you two meet?" Laura asks.

Riley and Bianca look at each other before they dive into the whole story of the Knight's Templar treasure hunt.

Almost as soon as they were done retelling their tale, the doorbell rings again. Riley gets up from the couch and goes to answer it. Ben and Abigail are standing on the other side of the door, so Riley lets them into the house and tells them that Bianca and Laura are in the sitting room. After closing the door, he follows them into the room and retakes his seat next to Bianca, putting his arm around her shoulders. Once introductions are made, the girls head out to find dresses for all of them.

Just before Bianca leaves the house, she turns to Riley, and gives him a hug and quick kiss. She then turns and heads to Laura's car (since it is the biggest). Before getting in, she looks back at Riley and sends him a smile. When she does get in the car, the three drive off.

After a few hours of searching bridal places for Laura and Abigail's bridesmaid dresses, and Bianca's wedding dress, they come to the last stop before giving up for the day. They look around the little shop for a while, just scanning the dresses.

"Oh, Abigail. I found thee BEST dress for you guys," Bianca says, standing next to the dress she found.

"I'm not going to like this, am I?" Abigail asks, walking over to where Bianca stood. Laura walks over to where the two stood.

"Ready?" Bianca asks, her hand on the dress on the rack.

"It's payback for making you try on that ugly dress, isn't it?" Abigail mumbles.

Bianca just smiles and pulls the dress off the rack, holding it out, and barely able to contain her laughter. The dress, if you could call it that, looks exactly like a trench coat, complete with faux bow on the side and coat-like collar, and it is in a pinkish-purple color.

Abigail backs up a few steps and gives the dress a disgusted look.

"It is payback!" she accuses Bianca.

Bianca just laughs and nods. "Sure is. Now try it on." She shoves the dress into Abigail's arms, who then walks off to the far side of the room to change, mumbling some German under her breath.

"I think I missed something here," Laura says, looking at Bianca with an eyebrow raised high.

"I'm getting back at her because she made me try on this very ugly dress when we were shopping for dresses for her wedding. I had to get her back," Bianca explains.

"That makes sense...I'd do it, too," Laura laughs.

A few minutes later, Abigail steps out of the changing room.

"I really hate you right now, Bianca," she grumbled.

"Oh, yes, yes. Hate me all you want," she replied, smiling.

Abigail stands with her arms crossed over her chest as Bianca and Laura laugh, on the edge of hysterics.

"Can I take this off now?" Abigail pleads.

"Yeah, go ahead," Bianca gives in.

"Thank you," she sighs, then practically dives back into the changing room.

Bianca shakes her head and wanders off towards the wedding dresses. She walks by a few not really seeing anything that catches her eye. She is about to give up when she spots a dress tucked away in the corner of the room. Walking over to it and taking it off the rack, she gasps as she looks at it. Laura comes over to her, seeing the look on her friend's face.

"What is it, B?" she asks.

"I think I found my dress," Bianca answers, holding the dress up to herself and turning towards Laura.

The dress is very sleek with straight lines; the top is halter-style with embroidery and beading all along the bust and stomach areas. It just touches the floor.

"Oh, Bianca. It's prefect! It's so you!" Laura says. "Try it on." She pushes her towards the changing rooms.

As Bianca changes, Abigail comes back out and puts the ugly dress back on the rack, holding it away from her as if it was diseased. She then walks back over to Laura.

"Where's the bride-to-be?" she asks.

"In there," Laura points to the changing room.

"You mean she found a dress already?"

"Yeah, she picked it up and gasped, so I told her that she had to try it on. It looks amazing."

As soon as Laura finishes her short explanation, the door to the changing room opens and Bianca steps out. Laura and Abigail's eyes both widen.

"Definitely you," Laura says as Bianca turns around.

"I like it, too," Bianca smiles.

"It's beautiful. Makes me jealous of my dress," Abigail adds, making Bianca laugh.

One of the workers comes over to Bianca and they make adjustments where needed. Laura and Abigail wander off and continue to look for their dresses. Minutes later, Laura picks out a dress close to Bianca's own dress, but there is a little more to the lower part of the gown. It is light blue in color.

"Hey, B. What do you think about this for us?" Laura calls, pointing to herself and Abigail.

"I think I can live with that one," Abigail says.

"Sure. It looks good," Bianca replies.

After the measurements for all the dresses are taken care of, the girls jump back into Laura's car. They go to lunch before heading back to Bianca and Riley's house.

When they pull up to Bianca's house, Bianca and Abigail get out.

"I'll see you guys soon. I have to get home to my cat," Laura says, staying in her car.

"All right. Be safe," Bianca says.

As Laura drives off, she sticks her hand out of the window to wave as she honks the horn. When she is out of sight, Abigail and Bianca head into the house. Opening the front door, they hear Ben and Riley laughing from the kitchen, so they walk there.

"Hey, how was dress shopping?" Ben asks, seeing them walk in.

"It was all right. I'm ready to go home, though," Abigail answered.

Ben nods and rises from his chair. They four say their good-byes and Ben and Abigail go home, leaving Bianca and Riley alone once again.

Walking up to Riley as he stood from the chair, Bianca gives him a big hug, and Riley rocks them from side to side. He then leans down to kiss her.

"Have fun?" he asks after they kiss.

"Not really, but it was better than the first time," Bianca rests her head on his shoulder. "At least this time, I wasn't forced to try on some ugly dress that looked like a trench coat."

Riley laughs then squeezes her briefly before holding her at arm's length.

"Why don't you go sit on the couch. You want some hot chocolate?" he says, letting go of her shoulders and moving towards the cabinet and sink.

"Yeah, that sounds good right about now," Bianca replies.

"Go ahead. I'll be in in a minute," Riley shoos her with his hand.

Bianca laughs, then goes into the sitting room and lies on the couch.

In less than five minutes, Riley comes into the room carrying two mugs of hot chocolate. Bianca sits up on the couch and takes the mug Riley offers her. He then sits on the couch where her head was resting. Bianca takes a sip of the chocolate, then places the mug on the floor. She then puts her head on Riley's lap with a sigh.

Riley looks down at his fiancé and grins. Setting his mug on the table to his left, he brings a hand up and runs it through Bianca's hair, making her sigh again.

"Mmm...how was your day?" Bianca says sleepily as Riley continued to comb his fingers through her hair.

"You really want to know?" he counters.

"Not really. I just want to fall asleep," she grins, closing her eyes.

Riley huffs in mock offence. "Get off the couch for a minute, then."

Bianca lifts her head and looks at him.

"It'll help you sleep. I promise."

Bianca looks at him quizzically, but gets off the couch, being careful not to dump her mug of hot chocolate. Riley then stretches out on the couch and pats the spot in front of him. Bianca gets the hint and lies down, snuggling up against him, resting her head on his arm. Riley slings an arm over her waist and holds her against him, making sure she doesn't fall off the couch. With his arm she was laying on, he continues to run his fingers through her hair as best as he can.

Both of them fall asleep for a few hours, then wake up around dinnertime. After dinner, they do a few odds and ends around the house and on the computer before turning into bed late that night.

* * *


	57. Marital Bliss

**A/N: **_YEAH!!!! Here it is! The last chapter of Hidden Treasure! And, hey, look at that...it didn't take me a year to update (but it was pretty damn close)_!

_I had so much trouble writing this last chapter. I watched National Treasure multiple times, but nothing was inspiring me. Then last night I saw The Hangover (where Justin Bartha is the groom-to-be...and it made me remember how blue his eyes are) and this chapter just started spilling out when I sat down to write this morning. So the wedding here was inspired by The Hangover (even though I didn't like the movie)_.

_ENJOY!!!_

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The day of Riley and Bianca's wedding arrived so fast that they could barely keep up with the details and preparations.

Riley wakes up super early on his big day. He doesn't want to wake up Bianca yet, so he slowly and carefully slips his arms from around and slides out of the bed. After taking a shower, he checks to make sure that Bianca is still asleep before going downstairs and into the kitchen. Turning the CD player on and keeping the music low, Riley decides to make pancakes for himself and Bianca to share in their bed. Once a decent-sized pile of pancakes were ready, Riley dumps some syrup on them and puts the plate on a tray. He takes the milk out of the refrigerator and two glasses out of the cabinet. Filling them, he replaces the milk, then places both glasses on the tray. Carefully, so as not to spill anything, he takes the tray upstairs to their bedroom. As he opens the door, he is about to call to Bianca, but as he looks up, he sees that she is already wake and sitting up.

"Hey," she says groggily, rubbing her eyes. "I was wondering where you went."

Riley walks over to her and sets the tray of food and drink on the bed next to her.

"You think I'd run out on you on the day of our wedding?" he asks, sarcastically with a grin. He sits down on the bed as well.

"Don't you even joke about that, Riley Poole," she says with a straight face and a finger pointed at him.

"I'm not about to leave you, so don't worry," he says with a dopey smirk.

"Good," Bianca says, then pauses to look down at the food before looking back up at Riley. "You didn't make a mess did you?"

"Uh, no," Riley answers, not looking at Bianca.

"Riley," Bianca warns.

"Okay, fine. I made a little mess, but I'll clean it up later."

"As long as you clean it up soon. Pancake batter is a bitch to scrub when dry."

Riley chuckles, then cuts off a bite of the pancakes. He lifts the fork to his own mouth before deciding against it and turning the fork towards Bianca. She eats it and gives Riley a satisfied look.

"Very good, hun. I haven't domesticated you, have I?" she asks as Riley cuts a bite for himself.

"I certainly hope not. 'Cause then my badass reputation is ruined," he says.

Bianca tries to hold in her laughter, but she can't. She laughs at how serious his face looks.

"Yeah, go ahead. Laugh it up," Riley says, cutting another piece of pancake to feed himself.

"Oh, Riley. I wouldn't be laughing if I didn't love you. You are the most badass nerd I have ever met," she smiles, then leans closer to Riley. She waits for him to swallow the food in his mouth before reaching over and pulling him by the front of his shirt into a kiss.

"I resent that nerd bit," he says after they break the kiss.

"We're both nerds. And yes, I willing admit that I am one," she says before kissing him again.

After breaking their kiss once more, and after breakfast was finished, Bianca gets out of bed and gets ready for the pre-wedding preparations.

Later in the morning, after they had gotten their wedding things together, Riley and Bianca pile everything into Riley's Ferrari and the two drive to the National Garden near the Capitol Building. The Garden normally doesn't allow big parties, but considering these two were part of a national treasure hunt, they are allowed to have their small ceremony in the Rose Garden. They have less than forty people coming to the ceremony anyway and they are willing to pay a hefty sum of money. Their reception is on the large Lawn Terrace outside of the Conservatory.

Riley and Bianca arrive at the Gardens almost at the same time Ben and Abigail do. After some pleasantries, the four walk into the main building and speak with whoever the place put in charge of looking after the wedding. When Laura and Owen (Riley's not-so-nerdy friend) arrive, they all explore the grounds to the Gardens. Riley and Bianca walk hand in hand, off on their own, through the Gardens. When they stumble upon the Butterfly Garden with its waterfall and numerous butterflies, they decided right then and there to have their pictures taken there.

When the time came, Riley and Bianca are whisked away from each other and forced into their wedding clothes. Laura and Abigail have a fun time tying up Bianca's hair and placing pins in it. Ben and Owen have fun taking joking jabs at Riley.

Since Bianca's parents had passed on, she didn't have anyone to walk her down the aisle. She had asked Mr. Gates to do it and he agreed. She met him at the edge of the Rose Garden before the ceremony got underway.

"I want to thank you again for doing this for me, Mr. Gates," she says as she loops her arm with his.

"It is a pleasure, Bianca. Besides, you are as close to a daughter as I have. I couldn't exactly walk my son down the aisle, now could I?" he grins at her.

Bianca laughs softly. "I guess not."

The two walk down the small aisle towards Riley. Once next to him, Mr. Gates kisses Bianca's check, then gives her hand to Riley, who takes it and holds it tight.

After the exchange of vows, rings, and kisses, the minister looks out to the wedding guests as Bianca and Riley face them.

"Let me introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Riley Poole," the minister says loud enough for the people in the back to hear. Amidst the clapping, he leans towards Bianca and Riley. "Congratulations, you two."

Bianca looks back at him and smiles. Riley looks back at him and says a quiet "thank you". The two then walk down the aisle to the back of the gathered friends and family. Once there, they pause. Bianca wraps her arms around Riley's neck and Riley wraps his arms around Bianca's waist. They share another kiss that would have embarrassed the both of them if they did it in front of their guests.

When everyone else in the wedding party is gathered in the back, the photographer asks them all to head over to the Butterfly Garden. A few of the guests with cameras of their own follow. The photographer takes lots of pictures of the wedding party, the newly-wedded couple, family and close friends. During the shoot of just Bianca and Riley, a butterfly lands on Bianca, on the right strap of her stress, near her collar bone. She notices it...and so does the photographer. When she looks down at it and smiles, she hears the clicks of the cameras. As she looks back up to Riley, she sees another butterfly land on his lapel flower and smiles. More clicks of cameras go off when they both look at it. After the butterflies fly off, one more picture is taken of the couple: Riley kisses Bianca's cheek as she looks towards the cameras making an exaggerated kissy face and popping her foot.

After pictures are done with everyone congregates to the Lawn Terrace where a large, white canopy is set up along with a dance floor and enough tables to hold all of the guests. While everyone is eating their meal, Ben stands up and taps his champagne glass to gain everyone's attention.

"Uh, hi everyone," he says. There are some chuckles from the crowd at his obvious discomfort at giving speeches. "I have known Bianca all of her life. I even babysat her when she was little." More chuckles and Bianca dips her head in embarrassment, but grins. "Riley I haven't know as long, but long enough to call him a good friend. These two couldn't have been more perfectly matched. Congrats, Riley and Bianca." Ben raises his glass and salutes them with it. A chorus of 'congratulations' echoes around from the guests, then everyone drinks from their glasses. There is then a clanking of silverware, making Riley and Bianca kiss. Bianca stands and walks over to Ben. She gives him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you, Ben. You're almost as good as an older brother," she says with a smile.

"You're most welcome, Bianca. I'm glad to see you so happy. You're practically glowing," Ben replies, which makes Bianca blush. She kisses his cheek once more, then returns to her seat next to Riley, kissing his cheek and taking his hand. Riley kisses the back of her hand.

After the meal, there is dancing, which is opened up by Bianca and Riley. At the end of their song, Riley dips Bianca low. This receives cat-calls and whistles from the onlookers and a surprised gasp from Bianca, then a laugh, which Riley joined in with before kissing her and bringing them both up into an upright position.

After more rounds of dancing, which included the Chicken Dance, Bianca kisses Riley and leaves the dance floor to go to the open bar to get a drink. She orders a Rum and Coke from the bartender. While waiting, she looks down at the white gold band on her left ring finger. Grinning, she spins it along with the engagement ring. So lost in her thoughts, she didn't even notice anyone come up next to her.

"You look beautiful."

Startled, she turns her head to look at who is speaking to her.

"Ian!" she gasps. "What are you doing here? How'd you get in?"

Ian chuckles. "I came to say congratulations. As to how I got in? That's my little secret."

Bianca glances over to the dance floor to make sure Ben, Abigail, and Riley are otherwise occupied, before looking back at Ian with a skeptical glance. "You didn't kill anyone to get in, did you?"

"No. I did not," he replies, frowning. "Really, Bianca, I told you before I'm done with that line of work. I simply wanted to wish you a happy marriage to Riley."

Bianca looks into his eyes to find the truth in his words. When she finds it, she cracks a small smile. "Thank you," she says softly.

Ian cracks his own smile and holds out his hand. "May I have a dance with the new bride?...Or is that stepping over some sort of boundary?"

She hesitates for a moment before placing her hand in his. "Only one, then I have to ask you to leave. You don't have an invitation...and I really don't want my wedding marked with bloodshed." She smiles a little more to show that it is meant in jest, but she is completely serious.

"Fair enough," he says.

Turning to the bartender who made her drink, Bianca tells him to hold onto it and that she will be back momentarily. She and Ian then walk towards the dance floor. Bianca catches Riley's eye. He sees who is with her and frowns then starts to walk towards her. Bianca raises her hand to stop him. She mouths 'it's okay' to him, taking on a smile to reassure him. This seems to placate him, but he still watches the two like a hawk.

Once on the floor, Bianca turns to Ian and takes his hand, keeping a large space in between them. Ian places his hand on her waist as she places hers on his bicep.

"Keep your hands where they are. My husband is watching you closely and I'm sure he won't mind kicking you out on your ass," she warns as they start to dance.

Ian nods as a response.

After their dance, one that is extremely uncomfortable to Bianca, Ian bows at the waist a little and kisses Bianca's hand.

"Fair well, Bianca. Have a happy marriage," Ian says before dropping her hand.

"Thank you, Ian. Be careful with your life," she says.

Again, Ian nods, then turns and leaves the dance floor and ultimately the reception. Sighing a sigh of relief, Bianca glances at Riley, Ben, and Abigail with a grin before walking back to the bar and retrieving her drink.

"I'd like a shot of tequila as well, please," she tells the bartender who places her drink in front of her.

Nodding, the bartender turns to retrieve the requested shot. Bianca takes a swig of the drink in her hands with a sigh.

"What was he doing here?"

Bianca glances to her right at Riley. "Wishing us a happy marriage. That's all," she answers. "And to have a dance with me. He left and I doubt we'll see him again any time soon."

The bartender came back with Bianca's shot. Riley sighed and looked at the bartender. "Can I get one of those, too?" The bartender walked away to get another shot.

"Since when do you do tequila shots?" Bianca asks him.

"Since one of my enemies decided to crash my wedding," he grumbles.

"He hardly crashed it," Bianca says softly. "Riley," she sighs, "he's gone. Just forget about him. Let's enjoy the rest of the day. It's our day and nothing bad happened while he was here. Everything's fine." She smiles and places her hands on either side of his face. Bringing his face down to hers, she kisses him in reassurance. She pulls back when the bartender returns with Riley's shot.

Riley picks up the shot. Bianca notices and places her hand over his.

"You might want a chaser," she smiles.

Riley looks at her, then at the bartender. "Can I get the same drink she has, too?"

"Of course," the bartender smirks.

When he returns, Riley nods his thanks then picks up the shot glass again. Bianca picks hers up as well. They clink the glasses, hit the bottoms on the top of the bar, then knock 'em back. They both make faces before picking up their limes and gnawing on them for a moment. They then both reach for their Rum and Cokes, taking a quick drink.

"Now, I remember why I don't do those," Riley says, taking another drink.

Bianca laughs, then kisses Riley again. They start to walk away when a waiter comes up to them with a tray. They place their drinks on it and the waiter takes them to their seat, while Riley and Bianca return to the dance floor. As soon as they reached the floor, they were immediately assaulted by Ben and Abigail. Bianca explains the situation and tempers are placated.

The situation with Ian is soon forgotten as they continue having fun and dancing the night away.

After the guests have left, Abigail, Ben, Laura, Owen, and Mr. Gates stay behind and help clean up. When the clean up is taken care of, Riley and Bianca say their goodbyes, then jump into the Ferrari and head home.

Once home, Riley carries Bianca over the threshold. Inside the house, Riley sets her down again after a kiss.

"I'm beat," says Bianca. "And my feet are killing me."

"Me, too...except my feet are just fine," Riley smirks.

Bianca rolls her eyes, then puts a hand on Riley's shoulder to keep her balance while she reaches down and takes off her heels. She tosses them by the front door.

"Let's go to bed. I'm so tired," she suggests, taking Riley's hand.

The two head upstairs to their bedroom. Bianca grabs her pajamas, then heads to the bathroom to have a quick shower and to wash off her light make up. When she gets back to the bedroom, Riley is already changed and in the bed. He opens his arms to her. She tosses her dress onto the back of the chair where Riley's clothes are already tossed, then jumps into the bed, allowing herself to be wrapped up in Riley's arms.

"All of this seems so surreal," Riley says once they are comfortable.

"What does?" Bianca mumbles, her eyes closed.

"I honestly never saw myself getting married."

Bianca opens her eyes and tilts her head up to look at Riley, then grins at him. "Honestly, me either. I always saw myself too absorbed in my work to actually date, let alone get married. But then Ben Gates drags me out of my office on a treasure hunt and I meet this really cute and really smart guy. Somehow I ended up falling in love with him somewhere along the way."

Riley picks his head up and looks down at her. "Who is he? Do I have to kick someone's ass?"

Bianca laughs and leans up to kiss him. "If you can kick your own ass, I'd like to see that." She then settles back against him.

"Did all of this seem really fast to you? I mean, we only met a few months ago and now look at us. We're married," Riley says, hugging Bianca closer to him.

"You're not regretting it already are you?" Bianca asks, looking back up at him.

"NO! Of course not! I love you. I just don't as much about you as I want to know," he says, kissing her forehead.

"Hmm, well, I love you, too...and we have the rest of our lives to figure out the tiny details about each other," she smirks, then kisses Riley once more before wrapping him in her own arms. They both settle into sleep with large smiles on their faces.

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**A/N: **_THE END!! Woot!_

_Okay, well, I hope you all liked this story...even though it's taken me forever to finish it. I'm happy that I DID finish it though. It's a great sense of accomplishment._

_For those of you who have stuck with me through this, and to those who have reviewed: Thanks a bunch!_

_Enjoy life, people! PEACE!  
_


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